Karnataka Assembly passes bill slashing penalty on property tax in Bengaluru by 50 percent
Bengaluru, Feb 20: The Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to slash the penalty on property taxes in Bengaluru city limits by 50 percent.
The bill is titled Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Amendment Bill 2024. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who holds the Bengaluru development portfolio, tabled the bill in the Legislative Assembly.
"With the passing of this Amendment Bill, the penalty amount is halved, saving Bengalureans a whopping Rs 2,700 crores. The BBMP will be able to collect penalties worth Rs 1000 crore," a statement issued by Shivakumar's office said.
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.
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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 tax payers.
The new amendment passed by the Congress government has reduced the penalty burden on the property owners significantly, he added.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
