MONEY MATTERS Now, pay tax for refuge areas & open terraces

Mumbai:Even asthe new property tax system promises to provide relief to 3.87 lakh structures, which are mostly new buildings, citizens feel that money willbe recoveredfrom taxeschargedfor amenities unique to these properties. Refuge areas and open terraces, which were originally left out of taxation, for instance, will be included in the new system approvedon Thursday. 

    Refuge areas, which have been made mandatory at every seventh habitablefloor after thefirst24m of a building,will nowbecharged25%of thetotal area.Open terracesin buildingswillbe charged10%of the area. 

    In caseof high-riseswith a heightof over 30m, the first refuge area is to be provided at 24m or the first habitable floor, whichever is higher. Thereafter, the refuge area is provided atevery seventhhabitablefloor. 

    "In the earlier rateable value property tax system, the calculation was based on rent, which was arbitrary in different areas.By introducing thecapital value based system, there will be a standard way of computing taxes. Whiledoing this,we neededtotakeinto account those areas (refuge area or open terraces)wherelandisbeing used for various purposes but were left out because there was obviously no rent levied," saidofficials. 

    Meanwhile,elected representatives feel that areas such as basement, stilt parking and society offices, which are free of FSI, should be exempted from paying property tax. In the approved 

proposal, the rate of taxation for parking is 0.25% of the ready reckoner rate and 0.1% for society offices. "At a time when parking is such a big problem in the city, societies that provide parking should not be charged. If one cannot provide incentives to such societies, they should at least not burden them," saidCongresscorporator Asif Zakaria. 

    "If a society goesfor redevelopment, they may not providethebasicfacilities for fear of being chargedextra for these additional amenities. Moreover, new buildings alsouseRCC material andthe costof construction automatically goes up," he added.