The Jharkhand high court has issued a notice to the state government and sought its reply in response to a PIL challenging holding (property) tax hike in urban local bodies across the state.
The urban development department had recently enhanced the holding tax levied by different municipal corporations and municipalities across the state.
It enhanced Ranchi’s holding tax by a minimum of 150% from the existing rate from April 1, 2016. Following the department’s decision, the Ranchi Municipal Corporation has launched a self assessment drive asking citizens to submit details of their property so that holding tax could be levied as per the revised rate.
A division bench of acting chief justice P K Mohanty and justice Ananda Sen has sought the government’s reply within three weeks.
The PIL has been filed by Pradeep Prasad. The petitioner alleged that the said decision was unconstitutional as the government was not empowered to revise the property tax according to existing rules.
He citied Jharkhand Municipal Property Tax (Fixation, Collection, Recovery) Rule, 2013, contending that the said rule didn’t empower the government to fix and revise the property tax. “This could be done by the urban local bodies only,” the petitioner contended.
{{/usCountry}}He citied Jharkhand Municipal Property Tax (Fixation, Collection, Recovery) Rule, 2013, contending that the said rule didn’t empower the government to fix and revise the property tax. “This could be done by the urban local bodies only,” the petitioner contended.
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