New property buyers will face significantly higher taxes as the Margao Municipal Council rolls out the Capital Value method for residential and commercial buildings
A view of the State’s commercial capital.
Photo Credits: The Goan
MARGAO
Planning to buy a residential flat or a commercial space in the State’s commercial capital? Well, brace yourself to pay a higher house tax by a whopping 300 per cent or more.
Reason: The Margao Municipal Council has not only given its nod for the adoption of the Capital Value method for calculating house tax for all new residential buildings/premises, but the civic body has implemented the new house tax rates for residential flats and commercial establishments.
The adoption of the Capital Value method for the calculation of house tax has rung in good news for municipal officials, having set their eyes on resource mobilisation. For, the adoption of the Capital Value method for the calculation of house tax implies the civic coffers will be richer by 300 per cent compared to the existing system of house tax calculation.
Information reveals that the Capital Value method for the calculation of house tax in the case of new residential buildings/premises means that tax payable shall be at the rate of 0.15 per cent of the annual capital value of such buildings/premises to be assessed for tax. In the case of new commercial buildings/premises, tax payable shall be at the rate of 0.25 per cent of the annual capital value.
In plain terms, the new system of calculation will have a huge bearing on the payment of house tax. Consider this. As per the old calculation of house tax, the yearly house tax for a residential flat admeasuring an area of 100 square metres was pegged at Rs 2025. Similarly, for a commercial establishment admeasuring 100 square metres, the yearly tax worked out to Rs 2700 as per the old tax calculation.
A glance at the new house tax calculation shows a whopping rise in the house tax for both residential and commercial premises. For a 100-square-metre residential area, the house tax works out to a whopping Rs 6585 as against the existing rate of Rs 2025. Similarly, the annual house tax of a 100-square-metre commercial establishment will go up to Rs 11925 as against the existing Rs 2700.
The decision to adopt the new rates for house tax calculations was adopted at the last meeting of the Margao Municipal Council as per the circular dated October 10, 2024, received from the Director of Municipal Administration, Brijesh Manerkar. “The MMC has started implementing the new house tax calculations on new residential premises and commercial establishments after the council’s nod last month,” remarked a senior official.
He said the government had, in 2023, issued a notification with new rates for the calculation of property tax in the case of both residential buildings and commercial premises. “This notification, however, was not implemented by the Margao Municipal Council for a year and a half. Finally, the civic body gave its nod for the notification after the DMA, Brijesh Manerkar, sent a circular to implement the notification,” the official added.
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New house tax rates only for new buildings, MMC clarifies
Margao municipal officials have sought to allay apprehensions on the house tax front, saying the new calculations for house tax will be implemented only for new residential buildings and commercial establishments.
Officials said there will be no change in the existing tax structure, stating that the thousands of residential houses/premises and commercial establishments will be charged as per the house tax calculations.
An official, however, said the government may revise the house taxes for residential and commercial establishments in the future. “So far, there is no move to revise the existing house tax on residential premises and commercial establishments. House tax on existing residential and commercial establishments will be charged as per the old tax calculations,” the official added.
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MMC targets 50% more revenue by bringing illegal properties under tax net
With the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA)-appointed agency on the job to carry out the Geographic Information System (GIS) survey in Margao, municipal officials say it will further enrich the civic coffers by bringing all illegal houses and business establishments under the tax net.
MMC officials in the know say the house tax and trade licence fee collection will go up by 50 per cent once the GIS survey is implemented in Margao in both letter and spirit.
The GIS survey will bring under the tax net all the commercial establishments operating in the city without the mandatory trade licence and house tax. “Along with the trade licence and house tax, the GIS survey will automatically bring in additional revenue to the civic body by way of garbage fees,” the official added.
The GSUDA-appointed agency has started work on the survey in ward number one and two in the Fatorda municipal area and in wards no 13 and 14 of the Margao Municipal area. Though the agency was expected to complete the survey by March 2025, it will take some more time to complete the survey in all the municipal wards.
“The GIS survey will not only bring the unlicenced residential and business establishments under the tax net but will give an accurate picture of the number of such premises and establishments on the ground,” remarked an official.
When the Margao municipality conducted a GIS survey around half a decade ago, the exercise had promised to enrich the civic coffers by Rs three crore from just one ward.
