( 33 ) 
The payment of land-tax is enforced by the 
attachment of the land and the personal effects 
thereon and by their sale at auction. 
Townships are declared and their limits defined 
by order of Council. The Government may compel 
the subdivision of road-side land into shop lots. 
Shop lots can only be alienated upon a “ Surat- 
Kechil ” containing a condition that a shop house of 
an approved type shall be erected upon the lot within 
the period of a year. When the condition has been 
complied with, a “ Surat Putus ” is issued in ex- 
change for the “ Surat Kechil,” Upon breach of 
the condition, the title is liable to ‘cancellation 
without notice. Land within townships is usually 
alienated by auction. The land-tax is $2 a lot not 
exceeding 2,400 square feet. The maximum land- 
tax on land in town limits other than shop-lots is 
$5 a relong. 
The land policy of Kedah aims at the extinction 
of all old titles for land and their replacement by 
“ Surat Putus ” based on survey. All titles, whether 
preliminary or final, are prepared in duplicate, one 
copy being bound in the register, and the other 
issued to the owner. Transfers, transmissions, 
charges and other dealings with land are effected 
by the filing in the Land Office concerned of a 
properly authenticated document evidencing the 
transactions, and by the endorsement of a memorial 
thereof upon the title in duplicate. The commission 
on transfer is one per cent, of the sale-price up to 
$500 with a minimum charge of $1. If the sale- 
price exceeds $500, the commission is three-quarters 
per cent. The commission on a charge is Vs per 
cent, of the amount secured by the charge with a 
minimum of 50 cents.. 
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