Chandigarh, November 28 – Sporadic protests have erupted in almost all parts of Punjab over the imposition of property tax. This new tax, imposed by the SAD-BJP government, has turned the urban voter against the BJP, forcing the government to dilute the tax thrice in the past two months.
 Traders take to a novel mode of protest. Tribune file Photograph |
With the protesters taking to the streets, the government has once again decided to reduce the property tax on industrial units and on rented commercial property. The property tax on commercial property is being reduced from the present 7.5 per cent to 3 per cent. The move will be okayed by the Cabinet soon, said Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi.
This is being done because of massive protests by commercial property owners who claimed they were now subject to double taxation as they were already paying income tax on rental income.
Sources said the government succumbed to the demands of urban voters by considerably reducing the slabs for property tax. As a result, property tax being charged now is half of the house tax that was charged in Punjab till December 2011.
Only yesterday, the Punjab Government had announced creation of a separate slab for calculating property tax on industrial units, thereby excluding the existing industrial units from the present commercial and residential taxes.
Under the new formula, only 1.5 per cent property tax would be charged on the prevailing commercial collector rate of 75 per cent from industrial plot owners. With this, the property tax on industrial plot holders has been reduced considerably — only 1.5 per cent would be charged against the earlier 3 per cent of the commercial rate of property.
Though reluctant, people have started paying property tax. Officials said a large number of people had started depositing the tax to avail 10 per cent rebate if it is deposited before November 30. The government has already collected around Rs 80 crore, it has been learnt. The target is Rs 500 crore. The protests seem not as much because of high tax but because under the new property tax, even self-occupied houses and vacant plots are being taxed.
“Since self-assessment of tax while depositing it has been made mandatory, a number of people who were earlier avoiding house tax payment will come under the scanner and will have to pay up. We are also getting a simultaneous survey of the entire urban property done to ensure no one escapes the tax net,” an official said.
(Contributed by Ruchika M. Khanna in Chandigarh, Dharmendra Joshi in Jalandhar, GS Paul in Amritsar, Kuldip Bhatia in Ludhiana, Gagan K. Teja in Patiala, Ravi Dhaliwal in Pathankot and Praful Chandra Nagpal in Fazilka)
Jalandhar erupts into series of protests
The Jalandhar city has witnessed the maximum number of protests against property tax. The affected parties are now planning to resume their agitation to pressurise the government into further slashing the tax rates. They have been demanding that property tax on commercial buildings should be reduced from 7.5% to 2%. The Jalandhar Municipal Corporation has already collected over Rs 7 crore from nearly 40,000 residents.
In Amritsar, 3 lakh properties taxable
In Amritsar, 3 lakh properties, including 50,000 commercial units, will come under the ambit of property tax. In the posh Ranjit Avenue, anyone owning a 1-kanal house (500 sq yards plot) will end up paying Rs 3,000 as annual property tax after 10 per cent depreciation. For self-occupied houses up to 50 sq yards, a consolidated Rs 50 per year is being charged and for houses between 50 and 100 sq yards, the annual consolidated tax rate is Rs 150. Till date, 30,000 units (22,000 residential and 8,000 commercial) have been covered and the tax deposits have touched Rs 5 crore.
Ludhiana residents refuse to pay tax
The civic body here is at the receiving end of the public ire over property tax on residential, commercial and industrial buildings in the city precincts. The rates vary from Rs 4,500 to Rs 12,000 per annum for a 500 sq yard house in posh and non-posh localities while for a house on 100 square yards, the rate will be Rs 900 to Rs 2,400. Of the estimated 3.8 lakh taxable properties, a little over 45,000 have agreed to pay the tax. Around Rs 16.5 crore, against the targeted Rs 150 crore, has been collected. Industrialists and traders say are facing a liquidity crisis due to recession and multiple taxes.
Patiala traders seek Haryana pattern
Patiala traders claim the system of calculating tax on multi-storey buildings is “wrong” as an owner will be charged for all the storeys. They say Punjab should fix property tax on the Haryana pattern or it should be 25 % of the collector rate. There are about 1 lakh taxable properties in the city and only 15,000 have paid the tax (Rs 2.5 crore) so far.
Pathankot residents unwilling to pay tax
Residents here are not coming forward to pay the tax despite awareness camps in the past two weeks. The authorities have collected Rs 46.34 lakh and as the last date approaches in two days, the figure is expected to touch Rs 60 lakh.
Fazilka civic body collects Rs 5 lakh
Municipal Council sources say only Rs 5.1 lakh has been deposited by owners of various properties so far. As many as 21,300 taxable units have been identified and the target is Rs 50 lakh.
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Source: TNS