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.

The Times of India                17.06.2013

Taxing time for tenants

LUDHIANA: Bringing good news for the Ludhiana municipal corporation, the Punjab government has thrown open the doors for revenue generation by introducing property tax. However, being apprehensive about the same, the residents have not been paying it since years. To add to it, now they are more worried about their existing properties that they bought without considering its measurement at a time when property tax was not being imposed.

"I bought an over 500 square property in the outskirts of Ludhiana to construct my dream farm house. But now I will have to see the aspect of property tax as well. Don't know how much it would be?" said Arjun Singh, a resident of Kitchlu Nagar.

Although, the government has tried its best to make the residents happy by lowering the charges mentioned in the last proforma, for a place like Ludhiana where most of the residents have not paid, it would be a big issue.

To add to it, now they are more worried about their existing properties that they bought without considering its measurement at a time when property tax was not being imposed.

"I bought an over 500 square property in the outskirts of Ludhiana to construct my dream farm house. But now I will have to see the aspect of property tax as well. Don't know how much it would be?" said Arjun Singh, a resident of Kitchlu Nagar.

Although, the government has tried its best to make the residents happy by lowering the charges mentioned in the last proforma, for a place like Ludhiana where most of the residents have not paid, it would be a big issue.

According to the reports, there has been a 40% increase in the residences here, leading to an increase in the number of properties. With this increase, now a number of people would be under the scanner to pay taxes, informed a senior official from the building branch.

In addition to all this, the tax would not only be imposed upon the residents here but upon those living on rent as well. Payment of property taxes would affect the pockets of migraters as well.

"We pay about Rs 3,500 per month for staying in a PG. But as soon as the property tax gets imposed, the owner would increase the rent to compensate his loss," said Kavita Bhatia, a PG resident in New Model Town.

The Punjab government, eyeing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, has finally decided to amend the Punjab Municipal Act 1911 and Punjab Municipal Act 1976 to levy property tax. An ordinance will have to be issued for the amendment in both the acts.

According to the tax slab introduced by the government, from earlier house tax of 15% of annual rented value for commercial rented property, the rates have been reduced to 10%, and for rented residential property it has been fixed at 7.5% from the previous 10%.

For non-rented commercial property, it has been reduced to 3% from 15% whereas the self owned houses will be charged according to the square yards. Houses with 50 square yards of measurements will have to give Rs 50, and those upto 100 square yards will have to pay Rs 150.

The date for imposition of the tax is yet to be decided. However, the building branch had made sure that property tax will be imposed this financial year itself. So the residents need to be prepared to spend a considerable amount from their savings.