Ghaziabad: In a major relief for small traders, Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation has reduced the property tax on shops measuring up to 120 sq ft to 1.5 times the applicable residential rate, from five times earlier. The tax covers house, water and sewer charges. The move is expected to benefit more than 30,000 small traders.Instead of setting a separate rate for every commercial property, the municipal corporation uses the residential rate as the base and applies a multiplier to reflect the commercial use. Earlier, this multiplier was five, therefore a shop was taxed at five times the applicable residential rate. The corporation has now reduced the multiplier to 1.5, bringing down the tax burden on small shops.A municipal official explained that a property with an annual rental value of Rs 24,480 would earlier attract commercial property tax at five times of the residential rate. With the new rate of 1.5 times, the value for tax calculation would be Rs 7,344, and 24% of this amount — Rs 1,762 — would be payable as property tax for a commercial unit measuring up to 120 sq ft.The residential property tax rate varies according to the width of the road on which the property is located. It is Rs 3.40 per sq ft for roads wider than 24 metres, Rs 2.81 per sq ft for roads between 12 and 24 metres wide, and Rs 2.28 per sq ft for roads narrower than 12 metres.“From Aug 15, GMC will also introduce a one-time settlement scheme under which penalties and late fees will be waived. Property owners will only have to pay the outstanding tax in three instalments. The scheme will remain open until Dec 15, while outstanding taxes must be paid by Nov 15, as per a government order already issued,” the official said.Sumit Singh, a trader, said small traders had been seeking a reduction in commercial property tax rates for a long time. “The focus was largely on residential property tax rates, while commercial properties were being taxed at five times the residential rate. This put a significant burden on small traders,” he said.“We are relieved that the issue has finally received the attention of the GMC and the state government and that the rates have been reduced,” Singh added.
