Property tax to be imposed in municipal areas of J&K from April 1; Jammu, Srinagar Mayors oppose move
The government has officially notified rules for the levy, assessment, and collection of property tax in the Municipalities and Municipal Councils of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The tax rates will be five per cent of taxable annual value (TAV) for residential properties and six per cent for commercial properties, it stated.
Till now, Jammu and Kashmir was the only state/union territory in the union territory exempted from property tax, a status which it has lost on Tuesday, three years after the reorganization of the erstwhile State, followed by extension of a number of Central laws to the Union Territory.
The Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD) notified the rules for levy, assessment and collection of property tax in the Municipalities and Municipal Councils of Union Territory.
“In exercise of the power conferred by section 71A of the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act 2000, the government hereby notifies the rules for levy, assessment and collection of property tax in the municipalities and municipal councils of the Union Territory,” HUDD Principal Secretary H Rajesh Prasad said in a notification.
In October 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) empowered the Jammu and Kashmir administration to impose the property tax after an amendment to the J&K Municipal Act, 2000 and J&K Municipal Corporation Act, 2000 through the J&K Reorganisation (Adaption of State Laws) order, 2020.
According to the amendments, property tax shall be levied on all lands and buildings or vacant lands within municipal limits.
Earlier, most of the political parties, traders and civil society groups in Jammu and Kashmir had opposed any imposition of property tax.
Following criticism, the administration had earlier dropped the plan of imposing property tax.
According to the notification, rules for Jammu and Kashmir Property Tax Act 2000 were notified to facilitate the imposition of property tax across municipal areas in the Union Territory.
It may be recalled that the government decision has been communicated to the Principal Secretary of HUDD by J&K Chief Secretary through an official memo on 13 January this year.
The Administrative Council approved the proposal with the direction that the proposed property tax, which will take effect on 1 April 2023, shall be levied at half of the proposed formula.
As per the rules of notification, a person liable to the property tax shall be liable to furnish to the officer authorised in this behalf particulars of property and tax due by May 30 financial year. Second installment of tax shall be furnished by November 30 along with proof of receipt of first installment.
In case of failure to pay tax, a penalty of Rs .100 or one percent will be imposed, it said, adding the maximum penalty shall not exceed Rs. 1,000.
There is a provision for inspection, assessment and reassessment in the Act. There is a provision for appeal to be made to the director of local bodies until the board in this direction is set up, it said.
These include vacant lands, not appurtenant to a structure/building if there’s a Master Plan in force in the area, under which any construction/development on such vacant land is disallowed or if they have been put to agricultural use as per 6- monthly cropping surveys of the Revenue department.
Similarly, all the properties of the Municipality and all places of worship, including temples, masjids, gurudwaras, churches, ziarats, etc and cremation and burial grounds would be exempt from payment of property tax.
All properties owned by the Government of India / UT Government would be exempted from payment of Property Tax. However, service charge at the rate 3% of the taxable annual value would be payable to the Municipality in respect of such properties.
The government said that it will constitute Jammu and Kashmir Property Tax Board for hearing the appeals, but till then, the Director Urban Local Body of the concerned division would be the appellate authority.
Jammu Municipal Corporation Mayor Rajinder Sharma said that the final decision on the implementation of property tax will be taken after the General House Meeting that will take place in a week.
Srinagar Municipal Corporation Deputy Mayor Parvaiz Qadri said, “We won’t let the imposition of property tax here. More importantly, it is just a notification not any amendment by the Ministry of Home Affairs”. He said, “There is a proper resolution, and even if there is a General House Meeting, we won’t let it happen”.
