Minister opposes proposed property tax hike
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is in dilemma over the implementation of its proposal to raise the property tax by 15%.
In the BBMP council meeting, commissioner Siddaiah has proposed a hike in property tax, but the minister in charge, Ashoka has opposed the property tax hike proposal fearing the backlash of voters in the upcoming assembly elections.
Last year, a note has been sent by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for which they proposed a hike in the property tax. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is disappointed over the BBMP for its poor fiscal discipline, in which BBMP lost Rs 207.35 crore due to its ineffective tax collection.
It has been pointed out that the implementation mechanism in property tax management suffered from several deficiencies. During the year 2008-2010, BBMP faced a huge loss of Rs 207.35 crore because of the delay in conducting a physical survey of properties by BBMP and incorrect declaration of properties and their usage pattern.
As BBMP is all set to discuss about the property tax hike, the minister requested the officials to postpone the subject. The Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act has a provision of a hike of 15- 30 percent every three years. The property tax rate which expired on March 2011 has not been revised so far.
The BBMP had proposed a revision on tax to the state government in November 2011 but it was not revised because of the strong protest from elected representatives and the general public who demanded the government to extent the time period from three years to five years. Records submitted by the BBMP to the principal secretary of the urban development department state that the property tax rates implemented in 2008-09 was done without making changes to the self-assessment property tax as existed in 2000.
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BBMP Bangalore, BBMP Standing Committee, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, Karnataka Municipal Corporation, property tax in bangalore, Residential projects in Bangalore, Residential properties, Residential real estate, State government, tax defaulters in Bangalore, urban development department
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