Indian Express 18.11.2009
Self-occupied properties: tax may shoot up, rebate to go
Around 2.8 lakh citizens who have ‘self-occupied’ residential property within Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits who had been enjoying 40 per cent concession in property tax may have to pay more from the next financial year. The 38-year-old scheme of giving 40 per cent concession in the annual ratable value of the property— PMC is the only civic body in the state providing such benefits—¿ is on its way out.
If a citizen has been paying Rs 10,000 as property tax, he will have to pay approximately Rs 3,000 more once the scheme is withdrawn.
“The scheme of 40 per cent concession was introduced in 1971 as a relief for citizens hit by the Panshet dam tragedy. There is no reason to continue with the concession now,” said Vilas Kanade, PMC Tax Assessment and Collection Officer.
The civic body had started implementing the scheme after the state government issued a notification.
Therefore, the civic administration will now seek approval of the legal committee for the proposal to urge the government to issue a notification withdrawing the scheme. The civic administration has also proposed that the additional benefit of 15 per cent standard deduction in property tax considering the maintenance and repairs of properties should be reduced to 10 per cent.
The proposal would be sent to the standing committee and the general body after the go ahead from the legal committee.
There are around 6.35 lakh properties in the PMC jurisdiction of which 3.5 lakh are residential. According to the tentative figures, almost 80 per cent of the properties are in the self-occupied category. Residential properties contribute 50 per cent revenue to the PMC as property tax while 45 per cent comes from commercial properties and the rest from the government-owned properties.
The civic body had a revenue generation of Rs 362 crore from property tax in 2008-09 — it was Rs 262 crore in 2007-08 against estimated Rs 450 crore for 2009-10. “We do not know the exact increase in revenue from the property tax if the concession is withdrawn,” a civic official said.
A door-to-door survey needs to be undertaken to ascertain the number of self-occupied properties are actually benefiting from the waiver, he added. There has been a substantial increase in properties in the PMC jurisdiction in the last few years. Around 48,000 new properties were registered in 2008-09 against 33,000 in 2007-08.
