After the house tax in Uttarakhand’s urban bodies is linked to the circle rate, now the bodies will have to keep the pace of house tax at par with the GDP (GDP) of the district. This has been mentioned in the note of the cabinet meeting held on Saturday. Government spokesman and cabinet minister Madan Kaushik has confirmed this. However, in order to avoid additional burden on the people of the state’s urban area, the government has limited the maximum increase to five percent annually for the next five years.
The state government has taken a significant step towards making the municipal bodies financially self-reliant by linking house tax to the circle rate. On the other hand, the central government has asked the states to increase the house tax of the bodies at the same rate of GDP growth of the districts. In this context, the house tax of bodies located in large districts of the state may be higher than in smaller districts. The rate of circle rate is very high in big cities anyway, so house tax here will also increase in the same proportion.
Property card is also
improving the house tax collection process of the bodies soon. The state government is also issuing GIS survey-based property cards in municipal corporations. Under this, each building will have a unique ID card, which will enter the size of the building, number of rooms, owner’s name, tax details. For this, the work of making house tax registered online in the bodies is going on fast.
The GDP rate was 6.87 percent
. According to the Economic Survey report presented in the Legislative Assembly last year, the state’s GDP growth rate was estimated at 6.87 percent in the financial year 2017-18. In this context, the house tax collection of bodies will also increase at the same pace annually. However, it will vary from district to district.
The bill for amending the Municipal Corporation Act and the Nagar Panchayat-Municipality Act to link house tax to the circle rate will be introduced in the House during the upcoming budget session. Once enacted, it will be accepted and implemented at the level of bodies. The government will also take care of this by not incurring additional tax burdens on the people.
Madan Kaushik, Urban Development Minister
