05-05-2025
BDA hikes property tax by 20 to 45 pc
Bengaluru: Bangalore Development Authority, Property Tax Hike, BDA Infrastructure, Resident Outrage, Tax Revision, Bengaluru Layouts
The state government, which has increased the prices of essential services and goods including public transport fares, electricity, water, milk, property registration fees, has now revised the tax on properties under BDA jurisdiction, causing outrage among the owners of properties under BDA.
The 9 layouts developed by BDA, including Arkavathi, Banashankari, and Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, along with the BDA-approved layouts and allocated apartment housing, will face the heat of the tax hike for more than 1.22 lakh people, and residents' associations of various layouts have already expressed opposition to the BDA tax hike.
The BDA, which collects property tax of around Rs 55 to Rs 60 crore every year from the properties under its jurisdiction, has arrears of around Rs 40 crore for many years. The state government has revised the data in the software in the context of calculating property tax information of each property to the Center for e-Governance Department.
The revised tax information was published on the website on April 28. BDA sources say that property tax will be decided based on the guideline value of the property from April 1, 2025-2026.
Property tax is calculated and fixed on the annual value of the property. Tax is fixed on the basis of the location, area, and any improvements or modifications made to the property. However, many of the layouts developed by the BDA do not have adequate infrastructure or improvements. Due to this, the public has lashed out at the BDA and the government, saying that the property tax has been increased unscientifically.
There is a lot of delay in completing the infrastructure in the BDA-developed layouts. The price of building materials has increased. It is not possible to build houses. The amount of debt is increasing. Along with this, we have to face many problems like this revised tax imposed by the BDA. Looking at all this, property owners of various layouts have lamented that it is better to have a rented house instead of owning their own roof.
Property tax is used to provide the overall living standard of the local community and necessary services and amenities. After receiving the tax money, other services and amenities like roads, sewerage, water, gardens, electricity, street lights, bridges and so on should be constructed and maintained. However, in Nadaprabhu Kempegowda layout, we have been paying property tax for 8 years. A lot of work is still in progress. No basic amenities have been completed. In such a situation, the BDA has increased the tax on the property within the jurisdiction of layout by 9 to 50 percent. This has created a financial burden. Suryakiran, a resident of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Layout, has demanded that the infrastructure work be completed first.
