Holding tax rate likely to go up

The residents of urban areas in the state may have to pay more tax as the state government has decided to assess the holding tax as per the unit area instead of the present assessment on the basis of rental income. A state government agency has already conducted the property survey of the individuals in four important towns of the state including Berhampur, Cuttack, Sambalapur and Puri to assess the holdings of individuals in the unit areas.

The survey report has been submitted to the government and the proposal is under the active consideration of the government, sources said. Before the implementation of the new system of holding tax, the Orissa Municipality Act and the Orissa Municipal Corporation Act need to be amended, said Arun Kumar Panda, secretary, housing and urban development department of the state government.

“We have already prepared the draft of the amendments and the law department is scrutinizing the proposal”, Panda said. Sources said the urban local bodies in the state would be getting more revenue from the holding tax, when the new assessment system is implemented.

Presently, the holders of the urban local bodies are being paid their holding tax as per the rental basis fixed by the respective urban areas at the time of their constriction. The urban local bodies, however, did not collect any extra amount from the holders, even though the house owners renovated the houses after the construction.

Though the new system of assessment of the holding tax in the urban areas of the state is under the active consideration of the government, the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started to assess the new constructions including the shops and business establishments to impose tax on them to generate more revenue.

“We have completed the survey of all the shops including small pan shops to big business establishments and from small cabins to big hotels existing in the BMC area. The corporation has decided to impose tax on them in the present form of holding tax”, said Bhim Manseth, commissioner, BMC.