West Bengal Urban Land Taxation Act, 1976
No: 8 Dated: Mar, 30 1976
THE WEST BENGAL URBAN LAND TAXATION ACT, 1976
West Bengal Act VIII of 1976
An Act to provide for the taxation of urban lands.
WHEREAS it is expedient in the public interest to provide for the taxation of urban lands and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;
It is hereby enacted in the Twenty-seventh Year of the Republic of India, by the Legislature of West Bengal, as follows:—
CHAPTER I
Preliminary
1. Short title and commencement:- (1) This Act may be called the West Bengal Urban Land Taxation Act, 1976.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act.
2. Definitions:- (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Urban Land Taxes, West Bengal, appointed under section 8;
(b) "development" means the carrying out of building, engineering or other operation in, over, or under any land, or the making of any material change in any existing building or buildings, at a cost exceeding rupees twenty five thousand, which has the effect of increasing the value of such land or building;
(c) "financial year" means the year ending on the 31st day of March;
(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; and
(e) "retained land" means the quantity of vacant land which a person is entitled to hold in terms of the provisions of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976.
(2) Words and expressions used in this Act but not defined shall have the same meaning as in the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976.
CHAPTER II
Land taxes
3. Levy of land Tax:- (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), a tax (hereinafter referred to as the land tax) shall be levied by the State Government for every financial year upon the quantity of retained land owned by a person in one or more of the urban agglomerations and collected from such person at such rates and in such manner as hereinafter provided:
Provided that no land tax shall be levied on such quantity of retained land owned by a person in an urban agglomeration, not being less than 200 square metres, as may be specified by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette, and different quantities of retained land may be notified for this purpose for different urban agglomerations.
(2) The land tax shall be levied at the following rates, namely:—
(i) in urban agglomeration of category A—at the rate of rupee one per annum per square metre for the first three hundred square metres, and rupees two per annum per square metre for the remaning quantity of retained land;
(ii) in urban agglomeration of category B—at the rate of fifty paise per annum per square metre for the first six hundred square metres, and rupee one per annum per square metre for the remaning quantity of retained land;
(iii) in urban agglomeration of category C—at the rate of fifty paise per annum per square metre of the retained land; (iv) in urban agglomeration of category B—at the rate of thirty-five paise per annum per square metre of the retained land.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or subsection (2), no land tax shall be leviable in respect of any retained land for a period of three financial years commencing from the first day of April, 1976.