The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) has urged the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to bring down the property tax payable by business and industrial units located in the city under the new formula for calculation of property tax.
Decrying the new property tax formula designed on the basis of carpet area, GCCI president Kalyan J Shah urged AMC to take concrete steps to provide the much-needed relief to industries, as they are currently going through recessionary times.
Shah, speaking at a meeting organised by GCCI, called for setting up a high-level committee to look into various issues that may arise following the new system of property tax valuation. Under this system, the multiplier is fixed at two units for industrial units and 6-7 units for shops and establishments, hotels and entertainment centres as well as restaurants, which the owners fear is likely to increase their respective property tax liability.
Saying that no tax should be imposed on common effluent treatment plants in industrial estates, the GCCI president emphasised on the need to suitably improve the existing infrastructure of the industrial estates, including basic civic amenities such as water facilities, proper drainage connections, electricity, roads, etc.
Reacting to the views of the GCCI president, AMC mayor Himmatsinh Patel promised to give the matter a sympathetic consideration so as not to harm the interests of trade and industry of Ahmedabad.
Emphasising that the chamber and the corporation could work jointly to bring about solutions to the developmental problems of Ahmedabad, Patel assured that a joint committee would be formed within a week to delve into various developmental problems faced by the city.
AMC taxation committee chairman Vinod Modi said, under the new formula of calculation of property tax the rate of recovery is likely to be as high as 70 per cent, whereas it has been hovering around 16 per cent under the existing formula.
GCCI vice-president Mahendra Shah urged AMC to take a speedy decision in regard to the suggestions put forth by GCCI against the hike imposed under the new formula.
