Property tax on vacant land to be reduced

BANGALORE: The government will reduce property tax on vacant land from 0.5 per cent to 0.1 per cent, Municipal Administration Minister Kumar Bangarappa said on Friday.
All the local bodies in the state have implemented SAS (Self Assessment of Property Tax). ``However, there''s opposition against the 0.5 per cent property tax as vacant plots do not generate revenue.This small modification will be brought before the next cabinet meeting,'''' Kumar Bangarapa said.
He attended the urban development ministers'' conference in New Delhi recently, which debated on reducing stamp duty, but decided to let state governments and local bodies take a decision. The conference appreciated the concept of Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) and the Karnataka Housing programme.
At the conference, several state governments appealed for reduction of interest rates of HUDCO from 10.5 per cent. ``Responding to the appeal, HUDCO said it would reduce the interest rate to 9.5 per cent in accordance with the interest rates of nationalised banks,''''Kumar Bangarappa added.