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.
