Proposal of one-time tax on properties rejected by PMC
A proposal suggesting a one-time tax on properties had been submitted by Congress corporator Aba Bagul. He had suggested that the tax would be equivalent to tax collected over a period of 15 or 20 years. Property owners would be happy to pay the one-time tax, Bagul had said.
However, the administration last month stated that the proposal was unfeasible and would result in a decline in the civic income from property tax collection. The administration said even if the Pune Metropolitan Corporation (PMC) decided to introduce a one-time tax plan, it could not make it compulsory.
The civic administration has shot down the Congress party’s proposal to amend the property tax rules to introduce a one-time (optional) tax payment scheme, saying that scheme would be ‘improper’ and ‘illegal’. Also, the PMC would face financial losses as it would not be able re-assess the property. Small properties could pay a one-time tax, but malls, IT properties, banks, hospitals, hotels, etc would not be interested in the scheme considering the amount they would have to pay in one go.
As suggested by Bagul, the amount could be deposited in the bank and the PMC could use the interest for development works. The maximum slab per year is in the range of Rs 30,000 per property, applicable to commercial establishments, mostly malls and the minimum is Rs 375, applicable to slum structures.
