Karnataka Assembly passes Bill slashing property tax penalty; 13 to 15 lakh Bengalureans to benefit

This important amendment will benefit around 13 to 15 lakh people in Bengaluru city including 5.51 lakh taxpayers, five to seven lakh people outside the property tax bracket, and three lakh partial property taxpayers, it added.

Also Read: Tax the rich and spend on poor is our economics: Siddaramaiah

BJP to oppose Bill

Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the BJP would oppose this Bill as it will lead to large-scale corruption.

The Amendment Bill has a provision to give a special rebate to the poor. Government residential buildings and buildings in slums are exempt from property tax penalties. Buildings up to 1,000 square feet which are for own use are exempt from property tax penalties.

Under the Amendment Bill, residential and mixed-use property owners will have to pay property tax penalties only for a maximum period of five years irrespective of the default duration. Interest has been waived off for dues beyond five years.

“This is a taxpayer-friendly amendment. We have brought this Bill to help the common people though it is a burden on the government,” Shivakumar told the Assembly.

He charged that the property owners in Bengaluru had to pay heavy penalties as the previous BJP government had passed an amendment Bill which doubled the penalties resulting in a huge burden on the property taxpayers.

The new amendment passed by the Congress government has reduced the penalty burden on the property owners significantly, he added.

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)