MP Cabinet ayes amendments to Cess Act

Bhopal, Mar 21 (UNI) The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet today approved amendment proposals to the Cess Act, 1981 for taxation aimed at urban development.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here. Under the Act's Section 5, town panchayats would replace notified area committees. Cess rate was slashed from 5 per cent to 2 per cent of annual rental value under Section 6(1), it was officially learnt.

Cess would be levied only on that land and those buildings, which have to pay property tax to local bodies. An amendment to Section 7(2) ensured that the finances obtained through this cess would be split between the government and the local bodies on the basis of the percentage fixed from time to time by the government.

The draft of the Entry Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2007 was ayed thereby amending an act passed in 1976.

The state's Budget for 2007-08 envisaged an entry tax concession on certain items and rationalisation of the rate on certain others.

The draft of the Madhya Pradesh Value-Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2007 was approved. Through amendments to the Municipal Council Act, 1956 and Municipal Council Act, 1961, 50 per cent of the posts of mayors, chairpersons and corporators would be reserved for women.

A provision, whereby those elected to civic bodies would be disqualified on having more than two live offspring, was done away with. A legal provision would be in place for contractual appointments to municipal corporations.

The Madhya Pradesh Municipal Council Law (Amendment) Bill, 2007 was ayed whereby the property tax concession to urban areas' educational institutes -- not run by the state government and civic bodies -- would be ended. The property tax concession given on lamp posts would hereby be extended to power distribution companies instead of the State Electricity Board.

The Maharishi Patanjali Sanskrit Sansthanam Bill, 2007 was also approved. This institution's chief objectives included propagation of the Sanskrit language and literature and developing syllabi.

Fifty per cent of panchayat posts would be reserved for women as opposed to the earlier 33 per cent.

UNI