Srinagar: The Housing and Urban Development Department as per section 143A of the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporation Act 2000 has added a provision to rule five of the Jammu and Kashmir Property Tax (Municipal Corporation) and Other Municipalities Rules, 2023.
As per the new rules the residents of Jammu and Kashmir will have to pay Property Tax and file returns for the current financial year 2023-2024 before the designated authorities by July 31, 2023
Similarly, under Section 71-A of the J&K Municipal Act, 2000, a similar provision has been added in J&K Property Tax (Other Municipalities) Rules, 2023 for levy, assessment and collection of Property Tax in the Municipal Corporations, Municipalities, and Municipal Councils of the region.
Both notifications have been issued by Principal Secretary to the Government, Housing and Urban Development Department Prashant Goyal.
“A copy of the acknowledgment along with the proof of payment of the second installment of tax shall be furnished by November 30 in cases where the payment is made in two installments”, Rule 5 further read.
As per the rules, the vacant lands, not appurtenant to a structure/building shall be exempt from Property Tax if there’s a Master Plan in force in the area under which any construction/ development on such vacant land is disallowed or if they have been put to agricultural use as per 6-monthly cropping surveys of the Revenue Department.
Similarly, all the properties of the Municipal Corporation and other Municipalities and all the places of worship including temples, Masjids, Gurudwaras, churches, Ziarats, etc, and cremation and burial grounds shall be exempt from payment of Property Tax.
Moreover, all properties owned by the Government of India/J&K Government shall be exempted from payment of Property Tax. However, service charges at the rate of 3% of the taxable annual value shall be payable in respect of such properties.
Meanwhile, Excelsior reported that the Housing and Urban Development Department is in the advanced stage of developing an application to make the process simple and easy to understand by the citizens, “The application will automatically calculate the Property Tax and facilitate the citizens in making the payment through online mode.”