Ghaziabad: All properties to be brought under new tax structure over four years, say municipal officials

The move to implement the new property tax structure in Ghaziabad was vehemently opposed by councillors, who said it will “heavily burden the taxpayer”

A new rental value structure, for determining the property tax on households, has come into effect in Ghaziabad from April 1 and the officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation said all properties will fall under its ambit in the next four years.

The annual property tax is computed on the basis of rental values, said Ghaziabad municipal corporation officials. (HT Photo)

Earlier, on January 8, the corporation published on its website the order for implementing the new structure. It stated that the state government had approved the new structure on October 27, 2023, and hence, it was getting implemented.

“Even old properties will come under the new tax structure in the next four years, as and when their revision comes into effect. We have about 4.8 lakh (480,000) old properties whose bills are presently raised as per the old structure. We expect that about 1.25 lakh (125,000) new properties will be added once the GIS survey report comes in and the physical survey gets completed. These will also fall under the new structure,” municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Malik said.

Officials of the civic body’s tax department said the new tax structure will become effective for properties that are assessed starting April 1, 2024, and thereafter.

“Properties such as houses, malls, factories, and shopping complexes are subject to a revision process every four years in order to know if they have some additional construction. It is done either by self-assessment or by our revenue inspectors. So, whenever the next assessment of a property happens, it will be brought under the new tax structure,” said Sanjeev Sinha, corporation’s chief tax assessment officer.

Officials said the existing tax structure has uniform rental values for all localities. As a result, households in prime localities as well as those in lower segment localities end up paying similar taxes. According to the existing tax structure, the rental values of properties range from 0.87 paise per square foot to ₹1.32 per square foot for different colonies.

“Currently, we have the lowest rental values in place despite the city being a part of the National Capital Region. This is the lowest among various corporations in the state. So, the implementation of the new structure will bring the rates on par with those in other corporation areas. It is expected that the new structure will bring in an additional annual revenue of about ₹100 crore or more,” said an official familiar with the development.

The annual property tax is computed on the basis of rental values, said officials.

Under the new structure, residential colonies have been grouped under three categories – A, B and C.

Category A comprises prime and upscale localities; category B comprises localities that are less developed while category C comprises localities that are least developed.

Under the new structure, colonies in category A will have rental value in the range of ₹1.75 to ₹4 per square foot; category B colonies will have values 0.50p to ₹3.5 per square foot while category C colonies will have rental values in the range of 0.30p to ₹3 per square foot.

The move to implement the new structure was vehemently opposed by councillors.

“The corporation has played smart in order to implement the new structure through revision of properties. It is done not to invite opposition from citizens. We have opposed the move in previous board meetings and will oppose in future meetings too. The new structure will heavily burden the taxpayer,” said Ajay Sharma, councillor from ward 67 ( Kamla Nehru Nagar/Sanjay Nagar).

Himanshu Mittal, former councillor from Kavi Nagar, said, “There cannot be prevalence of two tax structures. We have opposed the move in the past and will now take recourse to legal remedy.”