Jammu, Feb 24: The people residing within the limits of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of J&K Union Territory – Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) – will have to come forward and deposit their property tax voluntarily, officials said.
They said no exercise as such will be carried out by the ULBs to identify the houses or commercial establishments to ascertain the people falling within the bracket of taxpayers.
“The people will have to mention their property details (land measurements both residential and commercial) not only in their Income Tax returns but also before the ULBs now,” Mayor JMC, Rajinder Sharma informed Rising Kashmir. “On the basis of their property details submitted to the ULBs, people will have to pay the property tax voluntarily.”
As per the government notification, the property tax will come into force within the limits of ULBs from April 1.
The ULBs have also decided to impose penalties on those who do not pay their property tax. The penalty for those who do not pay tax is, however, very meagre.
“We have decided to impose a maximum penalty of Rs 1,000 on those people who do not come forward and pay their property tax,” JMC Mayor said, adding that the penalty starts from Rs 100 and in any case, shall not exceed Rs 1,000 irrespective of land measurement.
Deputy Mayor, JMC, Baldev Billowria said the people will have to voluntarily submit details of their property before the ULBs and accordingly pay the property tax applicable to them if or if not.
“Identifying each and every house and the commercial establishment is not possible as we do not have that much manpower and resources,” he said. “Therefore, it is up to the people to come forward and pay the tax voluntarily if they fall under the ambit of tax payment.”
A residential house/flat up to 1,000 sq ft has been exempted from payment of property tax. The owner of a small shop of 100 sq ft has to pay a nominal tax of Rs 50-600 per annum.
The property tax rates in J&K are the lowest in the country, the government said, adding that it will be utilised by the ULBs for improving infrastructure and carrying out development.
