The Board of Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation had restructured the tax structure of property tax in 2022. The restructure of the property tax included three components, such as house tax, water tax, and sewage/drainage tax. But the decision to hike the property tax has still not been implemented so far.
Very recently, the municipal corporation board of Ghaziabad called a meeting to discuss the hiked property tax to be levied from the property owners. The board finally decided not to implement the hiked prices of property, which is normally revised every four years. The decision of the municipal board has been forwarded to the UP government for further directions to act upon. The news has been confirmed by the municipal commissioner named Vikramaditya Malik.
Since the restructure of property tax had been finalized two years ago, some of the property owners had already paid the hiked property tax, and some of them received the notice of the restructured hiked property tax with three added components, which are two strong concerns of the property owners. No guidelines have been issued by the municipal officials on this aspect to clear the confusion about the property tax.
After the meeting, Mayor Sunita Dayal said, “Considering all the facts, we have decided not to implement the hiked property tax. It has become 4 to 5 times higher than the current tax structure. If the corporation needs to increase the revenue, they have to act genuinely and accurately. Some of the malls have been paying lower taxes for several years. Therefore, the restructured tax on property must be put on hold as it will increase the burden of property owners.”
In addition to it, she further clarified that the officials are advised not to send tax bills for the new structure to the property owners, and already levied tax must be compensated as per the existing structure.
There is a provision in the existing tax structure to revise it every two years up to 5%. The municipal officials must consider it before finalizing the hiked tax structure. If the commercial malls are paying lower taxes, then how can the tax structure for domestic owners be hiked around 5 times from the existing structure? It would be gross injustice from the owner's point of view.
Under the new structure, residential properties have been divided into three categories: A, B, and C. A category comprises prime and upscale localities; B categories are less developed localities; and C categories are composed of least developed categories. And the property tax has been restructured on this basis, considering three major components of property, such as house tax, water tax, and sewage/drainage tax.
Moving further, the municipal board has also taken a decision to issue trade licenses for 13 activities such as gyms, beauty parlours, coaching centres, spas, branded shoe showrooms, branded cloth showrooms, branded jewellery showrooms, and sports academies. The annual trade license will range between INR 2,000 and 20,000, according to the activities. In order to implement it, a committee will be formed to submit the report, and within a month or two, the decision should be implemented.