Gelegphu Thromde is planning to levy underdevelopment tax. This means owners who have kept their plots vacant or underdeveloped for years, will be levied tax. The tax imposed will be 25 percent of the land tax, which is in line with the taxation policy of 1992.
There are two types of taxes under underdevelopment tax, the vacant land tax and the underdevelopment tax. In the core town area, vacant land tax is imposed for keeping the plots vacant for more than two years after getting an approval for construction. For areas away from core town, the tax is levied for not clearing the land and leaving the land fallow. The owners are supposed to clear the surroundings twice a year. “The vacant lands have developed into forest,” said Gelegphu Thromde’s Executive Secretary, Harka Singh Tamang. He said such areas attract wild animals which in turn affect the people who are cultivating land within the demkhong.
There are about 50 landowners in the core town area, whose land are left vacant because of excess land issue. Dotila is one of them.”I have even paid the money for excess land to the government. It would be better if construction of building is allowed because all my building materials are lying idle and I spent more than Nu.100,000 on the map itself.”
The Gelegphu Thromde said excess land issue came up after the land rationalisation whereby some trap lands were bought by private people. Trap land are the land belonging to the government. As per the Land Act 2007, trap land cannot be sold to private individuals.
The matter has been taken up by the higher authority and until a decision is taken, there is nothing much the plot owners can do.
