Defence personnel exempted from property tax
Kulwinder Sangha
Mohali, January 1
Even as Mohali has been declared an ‘A’ category city by the Punjab Government in the matter of property tax, various categories of residents have been exempted from the payment of the levy.
According to a government notification dated December 31, 2014, the Department of Local Government has put five cities, including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala, in the ‘A’ category for tax purposes.
Sources said here today that ex-servicemen and those serving in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force have been exempted from paying property tax for 2014-15. The condition for getting exemption is that the property should be in the name of the official who had served or is serving in the defence forces. They would, however, have to pay tax for the previous financial year.
Residents living in houses (without any condition of storeys) measuring 50 sq yd or below or in single-storey residential houses (inclusive of “mumti” and water tanks) measuring 125 sq yd or below or those living in flats having a covered area of 500 sq ft or below have been exempted from the payment of property tax.
The government has also exempted rent income in the residential sector from property tax. Similarly, the tax on the rent income in the commercial sector has been reduced to 7.5 per cent from the earlier 10 per cent.
The sources said since property tax was now no longer linked with the collector rates, residents would have to pay about 20 per cent less than the payment made earlier.
Meanwhile, about 50 per cent of property owners have so far not paid their property tax for the previous year despite several government exemptions on the levying of penalty. The Municipal Corporation is now planning to slap notices on the defaulters.
Notices had earlier been issued to persons owning property in parts of the industrial and commercial areas for not depositing the tax. Now, such notices will be issued even to those owning residential property.
The recovery of the property tax due would be done by the attachment and sale of the defaulter’s immovable property; by the attachment of the rent amount due in respect of the property in question; and by the sale of movable property.
Property tax had been proposed on various properties within the municipal limits with effect from April 1, 2013.
Commissioner of the corporation Uma Shankar Gupta appealed to residents to pay property tax as the government had now given adequate relaxations.
