by THO
Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad municipal corporation is all set to ensure that over 25,000 flats across the civic body’s five zones come under the property tax ambit, officials said on Monday, adding that tax bills will be issued to the flats across the corporation’s zones soon.
Officials said they got a survey in July-August conducted in which they found newly purchased flats, and these will now be brought within the purview of the tax. Its statistics indicate that the corporation area has about 319 residential high-rises comprising 124,874 flats. Of these, 99,765 were paying the tax while 25,109 were left out of ambit of tax.
25000 flats in Ghaziabad to be brought under tax ambit by GMC
“About 25,000 flats are yet to be taxed. We are issuing tax bills to them starting this financial year. These flats got constructed over a period of time in areas like Indirapuram, Vasundhara, Vaishali, Raj Nagar Extension and Crossings Republik etc, and not taxed as yet. These will now be brought under ambit of tax and with this we also intend to increase tax revenue,” said Sanjeev Kumar Sinha, corporation’s chief tax assessment officer.
Official data of the civic agency states that it collected about ₹175.47 crore of property-tax in FY 2021-22, ₹206.67 crore in 2022-23 and ₹294.9 crore in 2023-24. This year, from April 1 to August 31, the civic agency has collected about ₹150.19 crore as against ₹84.61 crore during the same period last financial year.
Also Read: At least 97 land deals for more than 2700 acres closed across the country in 2023
The property tax includes three components – house tax, water tax, and sewage/drainage tax. The corporation in areas like Indirapuram etc, which are not handed over to the civic agency as yet, charge only the house-tax component while the development agency charges residents for sewage/drainage and water supply.
Residents said that they don’t mind paying taxes but the agency needs to improve its working and improve civic infrastructure.
“The city faces many issues including bad roads, improper street-lighting, overflowing and clogged drains and also lags behind in scientific disposal of daily solid waste. Residents don’t mind paying up taxes. But they also want professional working and improved civic infrastructure in return,” said Mohan Sangwan, secretary of the Confederation of trans-Hindon Residents Welfare Associations.
Civic officials said that majority of new flats to be taxed include about 15,220 in Kavi Nagar zone, 2,847 in Vasundhara zone, 3,657 in the Vijay Nagar zone, among others.
The overall figures indicate that the corporation in its five residential zones has 52,569 residential properties and there are about 56,000 other commercial properties which pay up taxes.
“We are intending to raise the tax revenue and this will directly benefit residents, as we will be able to spend more in improving the civic infrastructure as well as providing better services. The tax collection in first five months this FY has risen. We got the commercial properties reassessed. Besides, we also held camps in the zones for increasing tax collections,” Sinha added.
