Friday, December 13, 2013: In the coming three weeks, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will reportedly be submitting the draft of the revised Local Body Tax (LBT) to the state government for approval.
Sudhir Cheke, deputy municipal commissioner (Cess) told TOI, “After discussing the existing tax structure with the traders’ community and other concerned parties, the civic body’s tax (cess) department has prepared a revised LBT proposal which has reduced a certain slab of the LBT.”
Cheke shared that all the points raised by the mercantile community representatives along with the suggestions made by guardian minister Ganesh Naik have been considered while drafting the revised proposal.
The draft will be tabled before Abasaheb Jarhad, NMMC commissioner for any final changes. It will then be sent to the state government for its approval. “The process will be completed in three weeks,” Cheke added.
There are a number of traders who are not paying tax in the hope that LBT will be reduced. Hence, the corporation managed to collect revenue of just Rs 3700 million in first seven months of 2013, in comparison to the estimated Rs 8250 million.
Answering to the time that will be taken to introduce the new tax structure, a senior NMMC official told TOI, “Once the draft is approved by the state government, the new tax would be introduced.”