Ghaziabad civic body approves proposal to change property tax calculation

The corporation at present determines the tax on the basis of location of a property on the basis of road width and its corresponding annual rental values

Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad municipal corporation board has cleared a proposal suggesting the width of the roads be redefined as per the Master Plan, and be taken into account to determine the property tax.

The new proposal said that the width of the road located in front of a property would include the road width, footpath, dividers, central verges, green belts, parking space (if adjacent to the road), service road, drains in between the road etc. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Officials, however, said that the proposal will lead to an increase in tax revenue.

The corporation at present determines the tax on the basis of location of a property on the basis of road width and its corresponding annual rental values (ARV). The three types of road widths taken into account are the ones, less than 12 metres, between 12 and 24 metres, and above 24 metres.

“As per the new proposal, the road width to determine the property tax will be taken up as defined in the Master Plan. There will be no determination on the basis of locations along the service roads or the main road etc.,” said Vikramaditya Malik, municipal commissioner.

Officials said that the decision has been taken to root out anomalies in determination of road widths.

Officials said that the bigger the road width, the higher the factor in determining ARV for a property, and subsequently the tax.

The new proposal said that the width of the road located in front of a property would include the road width, footpath, dividers, central verges, green belts, parking space (if adjacent to the road), service road, drains in between the road etc.

The proposal said that all these features are included in the road width determined in the Master Plan.

“The proposal will include all these geographical/infrastructure features for computing a road width. Till now, we were just taking only the road portion for determining the tax. So, the proposal will also lead to an increase in revenue. Estimated, the tax revenues may get increase anything by 10-15%. The new proposal will come into effect from the next financial year,” said Sanjeev Sinha, corporation’s chief tax assessment officer.

Officials said that in cases where there is no determination of road width in the master plan, the road widths mentioned in the map layouts will be taken into account.

The proposal further said, “The determination of road widths for ascertaining the tax for flats in high-rises, societies and townships, in the corporation jurisdiction area, will be determined by the sanctioned map layouts of the projects approved by the development agencies.”

Residents oppose the move

“The proposal will lead to an increase in road width and the tax amount will also rise. In 2021-22, there was a plan to get through this proposal, and we opposed it beforehand. The latest move is in the form of a disguise to increase the burden of tax on households and to increase corporation’s revenue,” said Himanshu Mittal, an ex-councillor from Kavi Nagar.

“The road width is ascertained by the development authorities. The corporation should go by these defined roads. We are analysing the proposal cleared by the corporation, and may go in for a legal remedy if the proposal has issues,” said Rajendra Tyagi, a five-time ex-councillor from Raj Nagar.