The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) on Wednesday approved the implementation of the new tax regime based on the capital value of the property as per G.O. No. 198.
During the council session convened exclusively to discuss the new tax regime and user charges levied on garbage collection, Municipal Commissioner V. Prasanna Venkatesh explained the new tax calculation methodology adopted by the State government in tune with the guidelines of the Union government.
‘Unilateral’
Protesting against the “unilateral decision” of the ruling party, CPI(M) Floor leader B. Satya Babu launched a hunger strike outside the council hall.
The TDP and CPI(M) leaders also staged a protest outside the VMC office after the session.
YSRCP corporators defended the government’s decision to implement the new tax regime. “The Central government has mandated it for sanction of the 15th Finance Commission funds,” said B. Punyaseela.
TDP Floor leader N. Balaswamy and Mr. Satya Babu told the council that their parties opposed the new tax regime as it would burden the people.
They demanded that the governing body members belonging to the YSRCP stand by the people. “They should pass a resolution opposing the G.O. and send a message to the State government,” the Opposition leaders demanded.
TDP corporator K. Swetha said the tax systems similar to the one proposed that had been implemented in a few places such as Mumbai had failed to achieve the desired purpose due to various reasons.
Why should the State government accept a system that would burden the people, she questioned.
In response, Ms. Punyaseela said the TDP government too had implemented schemes such as AMRUT that were mandated by the Centre for the release of funds.
“The new tax regime will not affect the poorer sections, and such a system is necessary for self-sustainability of the corporation and development of the city,” she added.
Transparent, says Mayor
Mayor R. Bhagya Lakshmi said under the new system, the tax on properties having less than 375 sft area would be only ₹50 per year.
“It is a transparent system. Tax will be levied only as per the property value,” she added.
Under the new system, tax will be calculated based on the capital value of the property as per the Stamps and Registrations Department. Until now, property tax is calculated based on the rental value.
The tax levied will differ based on the classification of the building, zone of location, usage, age of the building and plinth area. The increase will not be more than 15% of the existing tax, it is said.
