South Delhi corporation proposes raising duty on sale & purchase of property

The Delhi government has reduced financial assistance/grants to SDMC from year 2018-19, as a result, SDMC is under financial burden to meet its regular expenditure. Therefore, we propose to raise the duty on transfer of property to 5% from the present 3% for men and 2% for women.’

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has proposed raising the transfer duty on sale and purchase of properties. It has proposed raising it to a uniform 5% from the present 3% for men and 2% for women.

SDMC proposes raising duty on sale & purchase of property. (Sonu Mehta/HTfile/Representative image)

A proposal in this regard has been readied by SDMC officers and will be presented at the corporation’s Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday. They say it will help the civic body raise its internal revenue. Last financial year (2018-19), it earned ₹3,219 crore and incurred expenditure of ₹3,897 crore, reflecting a budget deficit of ₹678 crore.

A senior official in SDMC, who did not wish to be named, said, “Transfer duty, as part of property tax, is the biggest source of revenue for the corporations. In financial year 2018-19, SDMC earned ₹944 crore in property tax, up by 36% from the ₹694 crore it earned in 2017-18.”

The proposal prepared reads: ‘The Delhi government has reduced financial assistance/grants to SDMC from year 2018-19, as a result, SDMC is under financial burden to meet its regular expenditure. Therefore, we propose to raise the duty on transfer of property to 5% from the present 3% for men and 2% for women.’