Property Tax : 40 percent exemption in property tax to continue, announces state govt 

Pune: In a major relief for residents of Pune, the State government has announced that the 40 percent property tax exemption will continue. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and a proposal to this effect will be presented and approved at the upcoming cabinet meeting.

This announcement comes after the state government had withdrawn the 40 percent discount given to Pune residents in property tax since 1970, resulting in many residents receiving inflated property tax as the exemption was stopped from 2018. This had caused widespread anger and discontent among the people of Pune.

The issue was raised by a BJP delegation from Pune, which had met with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to seek income tax relief for Pune residents. They had demanded that the 40 percent discount given to Pune residents in property tax should be maintained.

Following this, a petition was filed by Pune’s newly elected MLA Ravindra Dhangekar, Congress state president Nana Patole, former chief minister Ashok Chavan, and Amin Patel, which was accepted by the Speaker in the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly. The Chief Minister was likely to present a statement in this regard.

In addition to the property tax exemption, Pune had also demanded exemption of property tax on houses under 500 square feet, similar to Mumbai. The petition filed by Dhangekar and others to maintain property tax exemption was followed up by Mahavikas Aghadi, which has now resulted in the decision to retain the 40 percent discount. 

The proposal to maintain the property tax exemption will be tabled in the cabinet meeting next week for official approval. The government will also provide further information on how this decision will be implemented.