The Pioneer 04.11.2010
MCD to levy extra tax on new-look stadiaParvaiz Sultan | New Delhi
The new infrastructure has given an opportunity to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to levy fresh service and property taxes on the re-structured/altered stadiums falling under its jurisdiction.
Stadiums like Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Yamuna Sport complex and Thayagraj Stadium will now have to pay more taxes as all of them have made several modifications as per the provisions of the Delhi Municipal Act.
“We will write to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and convene a meeting with their representatives also for reconciliation. For the Games (Commonwealth Games), various alterations have been made in the structures. In some the covered area has also been expanded. They will need to pay tax for the current assessment year after appropriate computation for the area,” said a senior MCD official.
The senior official of Assessment and Collection Department further said the corporation will also send a communiqué to Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), as both the universities have also made amendment in their respective sports ground. While Delhi University sports complex was venue for rugby, the JMI had been designated as training venue for rugby and table tennis.
It was further told that a letter in this regard had already been sent to concerned authorities almost two months ago but the civic body did not follow up because of the ongoing sporting activities. However, the MCD made it clear that the SAI was a regular tax payer and no dues were pending in its name. “Last year, SAI paid Rs 3.60 crore as tax. No issues with them. Though, there is some dispute with DDA but the case has been referred to the Solicitor General for seeking legal opinion,” he said.
The MCD official added that with the new computation of tax after measuring open and covered area, tax payable to the body may also be reduced. “As per the present arrangement, the corporation is eligible to levy tax for vacant land along with the covered area. If 75 per cent land is unoccupied, the body charges certain amount of tax. In case the area of vacant land reduces after expansion or more than 25 per cent land has been covered or structure has come up on that, they are not liable to pay service tax for unoccupied land to the MCD,” said the MCD official.
