The CPI(M) has asked Vijayawada Municipal Corporation to put the property tax increase on hold without any delay.
At a press conference here, CPI (M) State Committee member Ch. Babu Rao said the corporation was preparing demand notices with an average increase of 150 per cent for non-residential buildings in the city. The move would impose a burden of Rs. 25 crore on people.
The VMC, so far, was collecting Rs.24 crore as property tax from non-residential building owners. And, the total property tax demand was Rs.44 crore. With the proposed increase, the tax on non-residential building alone would be Rs. 49 crore, he said. The corporation was effecting the increase based on GOs issued in 2007. As property tax was revised for every five years, another increase was imminent by next year. The woes of taxpayers would not end with it, he said. The government was planning to link the tax with capital value of the property. If it were to be implemented, the property tax would be revised for every six months on par with the capital value revision, he said. . If the VMC did not desist from increasing the property tax, the CPI(M) would take up direct action, he added.
