The Indian Express              18.06.2013

Patil okays move, get ready to pay house tax

The proposal for imposing house tax was approved by the Municipal
Corporation at a meeting of the General House held in February this
year amidst protests. There are a total of 81,609 houses that would fall
under the ambit of house tax. For all houses of two kanals and above,
the tax is fixed at Rs 1,000 annually; for the others, it will be Re 1
per sq yard annually.

There are 20,265 marla and kanal houses, 7,979 houses in
co-operative societies, 5,597 MIG houses, 10,675 HIG houses, 15,053
houses under the administration and 22,040 under the Central government.
The houses below five marla as well as those in villages and colonies
have been exempted from the tax.

A senior official of the administration stated that the proposal
that was approved by the MC House had been accepted. “The revenue being
generated is, however, not very high. Municipal Corporation would be
asked to review the tax after three months and a fresh proposal would be
sought,” he said.

The notification for the imposition of house tax will be issued
soon and the tax will have to be paid for the current financial year.

Municipal Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh said the tax being
imposed was very nominal. He added that as was the case with imposition
of property tax, a self-assessment scheme would be implemented and the
residents asked to file their returns.

The imposition of house tax is a condition under the Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). While tax on commercial
property had been imposed several years ago, the Centre had been
compelling the administration for imposition of tax on residential
property as well. Several reminders had been sent by the Centre in this
regard.