Crucial meet to discuss local body tax today

Introduction of the controversial local body tax (LBT) in large municipal corporations, including Mumbai, coming fiscal will be discussed at a crucial meeting Thursday.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the largest civic body in the country, has been opposing abolition of octroi till a viable alternative is put forth by the government.

Every election, Sena has vehemently opposed the possibility citing revenue crunch.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is keen to abolish octroi in A-, B- and C-category corporations, which include Thane, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nashik.

In October, he said the government would end octroi collection in the state this year.

While the Union government is still building consensus to introduce goods and services tax in the country, the state government introduced LBT to bring uniformity in collection. LBT has already been introduced in small municipal corporations such as Mira-Bhayander and Ulhasnagar, where revenue has reportedly increased 40 per cent.

Government will cite this to make a case for introduction of the tax in big corporations as well.

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