On Wednesday, ahead of BMC polls scheduled next February, the state Cabinet had given its nod to the proposal of no revision in property tax rates. (Representational File Photo) Maharashtra government’s decision of not increasing property tax for second year in a row will cause a loss of about Rs 1,000 crore to BMC, officials from the civic body’s assessor and collection department said on Friday.
On Wednesday, ahead of BMC polls scheduled next February, the state Cabinet had given its nod to the proposal of no revision in property tax rates.
As per law, with revision, property tax rates can increase up to 14 per cent. The revision was expected to take place in 2020-21 for the next five years. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state has decided not to increase the taxes. Also, the political leadership in BMC as well as state wished to give relief in property tax for one more year, said officials.
“With 14 per cent hike in property tax, the civic body could have earned an additional Rs 1,000 crore. The decision of not increasing the taxes will impact revenue collection,” said an official.
Mumbai has 4.2 lakh taxpayers. In 2020-21, property tax worth Rs 5,135 crore was collected, which was less than BMC’s initial target. For 2020-21, the BMC has set a target of Rs 7,000 crore revenue from property tax.
Meanwhile, BJP has again targeted Shiv Sena over waiver of property tax for houses up to 500 sq ft. Party MLA Ashish Shelar has said that while BMC is misguiding people over concessions for houses up to 500 sq feet, it is giving 50 per cent concession to builders.
“During the pandemic, despite being cash-strapped, the corporation had reduced the premium payable by builders by almost 50 per cent. It, however, failed to give waiver to the common people,” said Shelar.
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