Property tax: 5th MVC to soon finalise suggestions

New Delhi: Even as Delhi's municipal corporations wait for the President's assent to the Bill to reunify them into a single civic body, officials on Saturday said that the fifth Municipal Valuation Committee will soon submit its recommendations for the roadmap ahead for property tax regulations, which will also most likely consider the unification. The fifth Municipal Valuation Committee (MVC) was constituted in October last year and has met 16 times till now, the most recent being on Friday. It is headed by Anindo Majumdar, IAS (Retd) and has four other members.

Since its constitution, the Committee has undertaken an in-depth study of the reports and recommendations made by the earlier committees. It is reviewing various representations and grievances that were received by earlier MVCs, which include 18 representations from industries, 12 from private unaided schools, 10 from hotels, one from Barat Ghar/Banquet Hall and 127 from residential colonies. Officials said the MVC will soon finalise its recommendations and submit a report. They added that the MVC is looking to make the property tax matrix progressive and more people-friendly and exploring ways and means to increase tax efficiency. Officials said that the committee has studied the property tax models of cities like Patna, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Singapore and analysed how tax collection methods are reviewed, on what basis they are calculated and under what categories.