Ghaziabad municipal corporation proposes 15% hike in house tax

Ghaziabad: Officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation have proposed a hike of 15% in the house tax for the current financial year

Ghaziabad: Officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation have proposed a hike of 15% in the house tax for the current financial year. The officials said that the decision was taken as there had been no hike in the past two years.

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At present, the civic body has about 368,000 properties under its jurisdiction.

The officials said the proposal follows an earlier decision by the corporation’s board in which it was decided that house tax would be increased by 10% every two years or 5% can be hiked for a year.

“For the past two years, there has been no hike in the tax and 5% hike is related to the current financial year (2021-22). So, we have an overall hike of 15%. The proposal will be taken to the next board meeting. If the board decides that the tax hike be waived in the wake of the pandemic, then we will abide by the decision,” said MS Tanwar, municipal commissioner.

Councillors said that the schedule of the next board meeting has not been fixed due to a surge in the Covid-19 cases. “The proposal is as per an earlier decision taken up by the board to increase revenue in order to take up civic infrastructure projects. However, we will oppose the move in which the corporation has proposed a new tax structure which will bring in a steep hike in house tax,” said Rajendra Tyagi, a councillor from Raj Nagar.

Categories of properties based on their location on roads of varying width – less than 12 metres; between 12 metres and 24 metres; and over 24 metres – will have a proportional impact on the tax. The officials estimate that the new tax structure under process will hike tax by about 25% on an average.

“The objections to the new tax structure have been invited and a process is on to decide the objections. This process is likely to get complete by the end of this month. Then, we will put this proposal before the board. The next board meeting is likely to be held in May,” Tanwar said.