Slew of new taxes and rate hikes soon

If you own a house in the city, be prepared to spend more on property tax.And worse: if you work in an area under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), it means shelling out even more.

These are proposals made by the civic agency — which controls 96 per cent of Delhi’s area — in its budget estimates for the year 2010-2011.

This will help the corporation earn an additional of Rs 500 crore a year, said MCD commissioner K.S. Mehra.

Mehra has proposed an increase of five per cent in property tax rates in all categories — residential and commercial. The MCD area has been divided into eight categories — A to H — wherein category A stands for upscale colonies.

If the proposal goes through, the tax rate of 10 per cent will go up to 15 per cent and from six to 11 per cent. In effect, this means you pay 50 per cent more. So, a person who was paying property tax of Rs 13,000 a year will now have to pay Rs 19,500.

“We want to provide better services and for this we need more funds,” Mehra said.

There is even more bad news.

In addition to the proposed property tax hike, the Municipal Valuation Committee (MVC) will revise the unit area values (per square metre) under which there could be a minimum increase of 24 per cent.

This means apart from a hike in tax rates, the unit area values may also increase. Together, property tax could go up by 66 per cent. For instance, the unit area value of category A is Rs 630 per sq m. If the proposal is accepted, it will be hiked by 24 per cent to Rs 781 per sq m.

“With new area values, the rates may go up to 35 per cent,” said a senior MCD official.

Mehra has also proposed an imposition of 20 per cent commercial tax on rented non-residential properties and ‘high-end non-residential’ properties such as hotels and malls.

For professionals, tax may be levied on those who work in MCD areas and earn more than Rs 30,000 per month.

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Source with thanks : Hindustantimes.com

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Relief for tax payers in NDMC areas

Wed, Dec 9 12:30 PM

New Delhi, Dec. 9 -- People living in New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) areas can now pay their property taxes based on the old method. The civic body has introduced a new way of calculating tax-the unit area method, which is based on the floor area. But many residents are opposed to the new system. They said the method jacked up their property tax substantially. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had called a meeting of residents and civic body officials on Tuesday to discuss the property tax issue. "We had a meeting with the chief minister and she has assured to re-look into the matter. She has suggested residents can pay taxes based on earlier years' method and file their objections if they have any," said Atul Bhargava, president of New Delhi Trader's Association. According to the residents, the chief minister has assured them that if the need be, the matter would be referred to the Home Ministry. "The new property tax scheme introduced by NDMC is unfair and on an average property tax liabilities are going up by more than 20 times compared to the previous method. We informed the CM that property tax under NDMC is 25 times higher compared to MCD. If Delhi is one why have two different methods of calculating tax?" added Bhargava.

"The civic body proposes to value all properties in NDMC areas at the same rate. As such, posh Khan Market and Khanna Market are supposed to be valued on the same basis. This is unfair," said Anshu Tandon, president of the Khan Market Welfare Association.

with thanks : HINDUSTAN TIMES
Taken from : http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20091209/1053/tnl-relief-for-tax-payers-in-ndmc-areas.html

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