Nasir Azam
Srinagar, Feb 27: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said that 40 per cent of the J&K’s urban population will have to pay no property tax and the remaining 60 per cent have to pay nominal amount between Rs 600 to Rs 1000 maximum amount per annum. He said that tax amount fixed is one-tenth of the tax being paid by Shimla, Ambala and Dehradun.
Talking to reporters on the side-lines of a function at SKICC here, the LG said that in J&K, 2, 0, 3,680 households are less than 1500 Sq feet.
“Forty per cent people living within the limits of Municipal Corporations/Committees won’t have to pay the tax. Eighty percent of the 2,0,3680 households will have to pay nominal amount of Rs 600 only while rest will have to pay a nominal amount of Rs 1000 as property tax per annum. This amount is one-tenth of the tax amount being paid by Shimla, Ambala and Dehradun,” the LG Sinha said.
About the commercial including shops, the LG said that 1,01000 shops are in J&K of which 42 per cent shops are less than 100 sq feet. “These shops will have to pay less than Rs 700 per anum. 76 per cent of the total shops of 1, 1000 shops will have to pay very minimum amount as the property tax,” he said, adding that the amount collected will directly go into the accounts of Municipal Corporations and utilized for the development of the areas where tax will be collected.
“I urge the common people of J&K to come forward and help build a better J&K,” the LG said. On Saturday, the LG had stated that property tax will be imposed after through consultations with the general public.
Pertinently, the J&K government announced imposition of property tax in the UT from April 1. The move evoked sharp criticism from the cross section of the society and the political parties, who demanded immediate rollback of the order. The Housing and Urban Development Department of Jammu and Kashmir announced to impose property tax in Municipal Areas under the Jammu and Kashmir Property Tax (Other Municipalities) Rules, 2023. The rules prescribe certain rules for the levy, assessment, and collection of property tax in the municipalities and municipal councils of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, effective from April 1, 2023.
The Government notified the rule in the exercise of the power conferred by section 71A of the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act 2000. 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.
