Issuance of property tax bills for farm land which were brought under SMC limits after 2006, has sparked anger among farmers who are opposing the move.
Issuance of property tax bills for farm land which were brought under SMC limits after 2006, has sparked anger among farmers who are opposing the move. In a complaint given to municipal commissioner, farmers have demanded scrapping of property tax on their farm land.
But civic authorities say that any property under SMC jurisdiction is taxable under the BPMC Act. In 2006, 27 village panchayats and eight municipalities were brought under the Surat Municipal Corporation with the aim of developing these areas. Since then, SMC is collecting taxes from this area. In the financial year 2008-09, the civic body issued tax bills to farmers for their farm land. The tax bill includes user charges and water charges. The move has sparked anger among farmers as water is supplied by the irrigation department and no cleanliness work is done at farm land.
The farmers of these villages have given a written complaint to the municipal commissioner over the issue, with a demand to roll back the charges levied upon them.
"SMC has issued bills levying charges for services like water supply and garbage collection, which are not done at farm land. Despite variations in the size of farms, a uniform rate of water and garbage charges has been imposed. As if this was not enough, the SMC has dispatched bills after March 30, seeking fine as well, which is very unfair," Bipinchandra Parmar, a farmer of Vesu village, said.
Civic officials, on the other hand, claim that SMC is authorised to collect property tax as per Section 141 (B) of the BPMC Act from any property under its jurisdiction. The percentage of tax is .01%, which is similar to tax collected by the state revenue department.
"After abolition of octroi and implementation of JNNURM scheme, SMC adopted the systems of user charges and new property accounting system. All property tax bills are issued under the system, having special categories for each type of land. The bills contain charges specified and approved by authorities,” Rohit Chaudhry, an official.
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