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Self-employed professionals such as doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants and architects, those employed by private firms in South Delhi, and those with office spaces that fall under the South MCD’s jurisdiction, will now have to pay professional tax.
On Monday, the civic body passed a proposal to levy the tax. It would also be charged from companies registered in the jurisdiction of South MCD, said a spokesperson. In case of those working in private firms, the office will deduct pay from salary of employees. The MCD will earn Rs 150 crore a year from the proposal.
As per the proposal those earning less than Rs 50,000 a month will not be charged anything; those earning Rs 50,001-Rs 75,000 will be charged Rs 100 per month; those earning Rs 75,001-Rs 1 lakh per month will have to pay Rs 150; and those earning above Rs 1 lakh will be charged Rs 200 a month.
Narender Chawla, leader of the house in South MCD, said, “This is a very nominal amount, only from people who are earning. The same tax is levied in Maharashtra, West Bengal. We provide all kinds of sanitation services for a person when they work in our jurisdiction; in return, we are asking for a nominal amount.” Chawla said the proposal to introduce professional tax will be sent to Delhi government for notification.
The SDMC also approved a proposal to waive house tax of around 10 years for residents of unauthorised colonies, if they pay tax for 2019-20 and 2020-21. Chawla said, “We already carry out sanitation work in unauthorised colonies… we are giving them relief for so many years.”
The new tax was criticised by the AAP, which called the decision “inhuman and unacceptable”. Party leader Durgesh Pathak said: “We will fight against it inside the SDMC house and on the streets… and inform everyone of how the BJP is looting poor people. Volunteers, AAP leaders and councillors will oppose this decision at every level.” The BJP has been in power at all three MCD since 2007.
“Delhi has two governance models — one is the AAP government under CM Arvind Kejriwal and the second is the corrupt BJP-ruled MCDs. The AAP government has not increased a single tax in the last six years but doubled the budget for citizens of Delhi,” he said.
The South MCD also approved recommendations of the municipal valuation committee to double tax on commercial properties on rent. “These taxes have not been increased from 2004… The Delhi government has decreased grants, and funds from internal sources are also down due to Covid. If we do not increase taxes, we will not be able to pay our employees, like the North MCD,” said Chawla. These decisions are expected to add Rs 450 crore to the MCD’s coffers annually.
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