Calculate and pay your property tax yourself, AMC proposesPosted in Ahmedabad After having witnessed raging protests over the recent hike in property tax bills, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is now moving towards letting citizens self-asses their own property tax and pay . Since the budget session in February , senior officials of the AMC have had at least four rounds of discussions with urban development officials to formulate rules. The team of officials have also made a proposal to the state urban development ministry for an amendment in the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporation (GPMC) Act.Under the old system of property tax, unless the municipal corporation made a demand and issued a bill, the owner was not liable to pay the property tax. The GPMC Act amendment would put the onus of filing returns and paying taxes on the owner or occupier. Officials claim that rules for the procedure have been formulated except for the fine structure. “The process of self-assessment has more or less been defined and we have simplified the process when compared to other cities. We are deciding if an assesse is caught declaring less tax, the fine should be several times of actual property tax,“ says municipal commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra. The proposal for amendment in the GPMC Act is likely to be tabled in the forthcoming assembly session, claim officials. Senior officials in Gandhinagar add that three cities in the country were examined for the process and its technical issues — the main being Bangalore which took nine years to stabilize the system, followed by Mumbai and Delhi. To begin with, the AMC would give the choice to citizens, of whether they would want to be assessed by the AMC or they prefer self-assessment. “In the beginning both processes should co-exist if the system is to stabilize,” says Mohapatra. Source: TOI, 28 July 2014
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 04:52:54 +0000
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