The Times of India                    08.04.2013

Civic body to prepare its employees for local body tax

NASHIK: The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) is all set to introduce the local body tax (LBT) in the city and will soon train its employees to make them aware of the provisions of the tax which, according to the Bombay high court verdict, is to be implemented within seven weeks from now. The civic body is also planning similar workshops for the traders and industrialists.

On March 26, the Bombay high court had directed the civic administration to implement of the LBT within eight weeks. The deadline ends on May 20 and the LBT is expected come into effect from May 21.

"As LBT is a new concept, we need to train our employees on its provisions and other details. The senior officials will impart the training but the structure of the programme is yet to be finalized. We can expect it to begin in May," said a senior NMC official.

Speaking on the NMC's octroi department, he further said that around 400 employees in the department and 100 employees outsourced from private firms might be shifted to the LBT department. "We have still not decided on the number of employees we will need for the LBT department. The employees from the octroi department will be shifted as per requirement," he said.

In June 2012, the state government had issued a notification to introduce LBT in Nashik with effect from July 1, 2013. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporator, Gulzar Kokani, and Shiv Sena's Sudhakar Badgujar, leader of the opposition in the house, had then challenging the decision of the state governmentto introduce LBT in Nashik

. On June 29, the high court had stayed the decision of the state government to introduce LBT in Nashik

. However this year

On March 26, the Bombay high court rejected the plea by Kokani and Badgular. and directed the civic body to implement the LBT within eight weeks.