By Apurva Bhatt
There’s still no clarity whether how much property tax a citizen has to pay. But if civic proposal for calculation of property tax in the city is not approved by Friday, than Citizens will have to pay around 27% more as property tax.
The proposal was tabled before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) standing committee on Wednesday but Congress corporators sought time to study it. Section 128 (1) of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act states that municipal tax rates must be fixed on or before March 20. Opposition leader in the BMC, Devendra Amberkar, along with corporators like Asif Zakaria and Pravin Chedda and Sheetal Mhatre said the proposal was not given to them 72 hours before the standing committee meeting, which is mandatory.
Civic officials from the assessment department said as per the property tax formula proposed, the 20% extra tax charged for each flat previously having amenities would not be charged unless the amenities belong to the society. "As per the proposed formula, if amenities like a swimming pool belong to the society, the society will pay for them; if they belong to the developer, the developer will pay for them.
Many residents complained they had to pay taxes even though builders had not handed over amenities to the society," an official said.
