NA
My love affair with the soothingly named “N.A.Tax” began a few days back when a visit to my hometown for the purpose of selling a piece of land which my father had purchased in 1987-88 brought me face to face with this mysterious tax. They say beauty is only skin deep. This becomes evident with the knowledge that N.A. stands for Non Agricultural rather than Not Applicable, as common wisdom would suggest. So on a rain soaked morning, I found myself negotiating narrow by lanes planted by jobless on lookers seeking to amuse themselves by bantering on my presence and its purpose. The trail ended at the ‘talathi’s office’. I learnt a talathi is the name for a government babu from the revenue department in Maharashtra (other states would have local names). The tale of the talathi merits a separate post in itself and I shall give it that honor!
Rs 37,456. The talathi wrote in Marathi and accentuated it with an ellipse drawn around the figure, as if the emphasis would deliver more fuel to the fire. That was the accrued amount of tax which was due since 1987-88. After some inquiries, the light of dismay shone bright on this Houdini tax which, it now appears, has evolved a unique survival trait wherein it lays hidden for decades waiting for the right moment to spring up (has it got anything to do with the fact that Tolkien was writing his tome during the same time this legislation was being constituted?). It is called N.A. Tax or Non Agricultural Tax.
After several painstaking albeit eager googling, I succeeded in figuring out what is this tax for? May I invite you to read ahead and be amused with this great country and its even greater taxes!
Firstly it is pertinent to know that it is a state level tax and I found instances only in Maharashtra. Why only one state, I do not know. The tax traces its ancestry to the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (MLRC) of 1966. Section 42 of MLR Code 1966 states that, "No land used for agriculture shall be used for any non-agricultural purpose; and no land assessed for one non-agricultural purpose shall be used for any other non-agricultural purpose without the permission of the Collector." However, the same act got amended from 1st August 2008 stating no non-agricultural permission is required to obtain in the area other than city if person is constructing residential building for personal use. The development (residential building) should be falling outside the limits of
1. Eco-sensitive Zone,
2. The area within eight kilometres from periphery Greater Mumbai,
3. The area within five kilometres from the periphery of each of Cities of Pune and Solapur,
4. The area within one kilometre from the periphery of the Cities of Nagpur and Kolhapur,
5. The area within one kilometer from the periphery of each of `A' Class or 'B' Class municipal areas,
In simple words, for most areas in Maharashtra, you would be obliged to pay an annual non agricultural tax. Ok so where does the story get spicy?
In the years of 2002 and as recently as 2008, residents of western suburbs in Bandra, Santa Cruz, Khar as well as in Navi Mumbai were shocked when they received a notice to pay 30-40K N.A.Tax. There was no reason attributed, no transparency as to how the figure was calculated. And herein lies the spice! CIDCO (Maharashtra’s city development organization) apparently forgot that such a tax needs to be collected! This loss of memory lasted for over two decades. The housing societies which sprang up in the 80’s and 90’s remained unaware of the tax. Then, one fine morning, someone in CIDCO apparently woke up from this Rip Wan Winkle slumber and sent thousands of notices.
The BJP-Shiv Sena government during the early years of 2000 had actually abolished this tax. But the successive Congress-NCP regime recalled it, its anybody’s guess as to why they did that. This is not all; the tax rate itself is another story in itself. It used to be a modest 50 paisa per sq ft or thereabouts. While no one really knows what is the current prevailing rate, but while conversing on the phone directly with the Talathi, a figure of Rs 3.75 per sq ft was told. So not only is this archaic, confusing tax living its extended life but the government is increasing the rate in multiples and not percentages.
As we agreed to pay the amount, I smiled and shook my head at our country’s way of life. What would the tax reforms of DTC and GST do when states have weird taxes like N.A. Will we ever see Non Agricultural Tax become Non Applicable Tax? I hope so
Source-
(link), (link), (link)
Rs 37,456. The talathi wrote in Marathi and accentuated it with an ellipse drawn around the figure, as if the emphasis would deliver more fuel to the fire. That was the accrued amount of tax which was due since 1987-88. After some inquiries, the light of dismay shone bright on this Houdini tax which, it now appears, has evolved a unique survival trait wherein it lays hidden for decades waiting for the right moment to spring up (has it got anything to do with the fact that Tolkien was writing his tome during the same time this legislation was being constituted?). It is called N.A. Tax or Non Agricultural Tax.
After several painstaking albeit eager googling, I succeeded in figuring out what is this tax for? May I invite you to read ahead and be amused with this great country and its even greater taxes!
Firstly it is pertinent to know that it is a state level tax and I found instances only in Maharashtra. Why only one state, I do not know. The tax traces its ancestry to the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code (MLRC) of 1966. Section 42 of MLR Code 1966 states that, "No land used for agriculture shall be used for any non-agricultural purpose; and no land assessed for one non-agricultural purpose shall be used for any other non-agricultural purpose without the permission of the Collector." However, the same act got amended from 1st August 2008 stating no non-agricultural permission is required to obtain in the area other than city if person is constructing residential building for personal use. The development (residential building) should be falling outside the limits of
1. Eco-sensitive Zone,
2. The area within eight kilometres from periphery Greater Mumbai,
3. The area within five kilometres from the periphery of each of Cities of Pune and Solapur,
4. The area within one kilometre from the periphery of the Cities of Nagpur and Kolhapur,
5. The area within one kilometer from the periphery of each of `A' Class or 'B' Class municipal areas,
In simple words, for most areas in Maharashtra, you would be obliged to pay an annual non agricultural tax. Ok so where does the story get spicy?
In the years of 2002 and as recently as 2008, residents of western suburbs in Bandra, Santa Cruz, Khar as well as in Navi Mumbai were shocked when they received a notice to pay 30-40K N.A.Tax. There was no reason attributed, no transparency as to how the figure was calculated. And herein lies the spice! CIDCO (Maharashtra’s city development organization) apparently forgot that such a tax needs to be collected! This loss of memory lasted for over two decades. The housing societies which sprang up in the 80’s and 90’s remained unaware of the tax. Then, one fine morning, someone in CIDCO apparently woke up from this Rip Wan Winkle slumber and sent thousands of notices.
The BJP-Shiv Sena government during the early years of 2000 had actually abolished this tax. But the successive Congress-NCP regime recalled it, its anybody’s guess as to why they did that. This is not all; the tax rate itself is another story in itself. It used to be a modest 50 paisa per sq ft or thereabouts. While no one really knows what is the current prevailing rate, but while conversing on the phone directly with the Talathi, a figure of Rs 3.75 per sq ft was told. So not only is this archaic, confusing tax living its extended life but the government is increasing the rate in multiples and not percentages.
As we agreed to pay the amount, I smiled and shook my head at our country’s way of life. What would the tax reforms of DTC and GST do when states have weird taxes like N.A. Will we ever see Non Agricultural Tax become Non Applicable Tax? I hope so
Source-
(link), (link), (link)
4 comments
My own not so ancient ancestor, also purchased a plot near chennai sometime in the late 80s , in sri perumbudur to be exact..that is another blog post in the making... now that my pops wants to sell it off, I'm sure we'll encounter some similar idiosyncracies in the land of the munnetra kazaghams...:D
Hadnt heard of the NA tax before!! Its comical though how they could forget about the tax collection!!!
More is less for India :)
That's why they have named it INCREDIBLE India...where else can you find idiots ruling the masses,with rules of stone age!
God, pl give me wisdom and tell me who do I pay this NA Tax to and how much? Why am I not getting any bill for past 28 years since I acquired the property which sits on a Non-agriculture land!
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