No property tax on residential properties up to 500 sq ft, announces Maharashtra government

Bringing relief for the residents of Mumbai, Maharashtra Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde declared a wave off on the property taxes on residential houses measuring up to 500 sq ft. in Mumbai. The announcement was made on Saturday, after which CM Uddhav Thackeray said that he has successfully fulfilled the promise he had made during the 2017 elections.

Mumbai:The Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday declared a wave off on the property taxes on residential properties measuring up to 500 square feet in Mumbai. The Shiv Sena had reportedly promised this in its 2017 manifesto earlier, but the proposal was lying in ink and paper without being actually executed until now.

Shinde announced this waive off at a meeting of the Urban Development Department chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday. The decision was directed to be implemented with immediate effect from today, i.e. January 1, 2022.

While addressing the meeting, CM Uddhav Thackeray said, "We are committed to fulfilling the promise that we made during the 2017 elections. In fact, we have fulfilled most of those promises."

Highlighting that Mumbai is the financial capital of India, he said that all the people who work hard to keep the city running and flourishing deserve this waive off. He further said that he would like to thank all those who cooperated with him while taking a final call on this decision.

There are about 1.5 million houses of 500 square feet in Mumbai, currently sheltering up to 28 lakh families for whom this decision has come off as great news to begin the new year with. With the exemption of property tax on these houses, the corporation will now reportedly lose Rs. 340 crore worth of taxes every year.

The announcement was foreseen when Minister Shinde had implied that he shall impose such a bill during a discussion held on December 28, 2021. Criticizing its previous wave off, the minister of opposition Devendra Fadnavis had said that the Uddhav Thackeray government has waived off only the general tax on property tax bills and not the entire property tax as promised.

The wave-off decision that came today, however, includes exemption of all taxes including general and other service taxes on residential properties measuring up to 500 sq. ft.