Rental tax in Bombay

While countries like Hong Kong are lowering taxes and attracting MORE business the locals in Bombay feel the opposite works. In yet another attempt to drive people out of the city the Bombay Muncipal Authority (BMC) is debating whether to tax rental rates at 41.5%.  The way they are planning to tax people is the following:

Rs 100,000 – Residential rent
Rs 41,500 – The additional amount someone has to cough up and pay as the BMC Tax
Rs 33,000 –  Income tax paid by the lessor on the Rs 100,000

The gross rent would be Rs 141,500 and after taxes the net amount to the landlord would be Rs 67,000, a staggering 53% tax rate.  You can be the judge on how many people will actually end up paying this amount.

In HK you actually get something in return, but in Bombay that ain’t the case, below are some of the services offered by the BMC:

• Building and maintenance of streets and flyovers – Been to Bombay? Then you know there is more turbulence on the roads then the airspace
• Public municipal schools – scary, NO ONE I know sends their kids to these schools
• Water purification and supply – EVERY house has their own water purifier
• Hospitals – if by hospital you mean a place to get urgent care, then don’t visit a BMC hospital
• Street lighting – drive from Bandra to Mahim at midnight on the main road
• Maintenance of parks and open spaces – What parks are they talking about?
• Sewage treatment and disposal – right into the ocean
• Garbage disposal and street cleanliness – HAHA

Anyways, you get the point. 

I keep referring to the BMC but in reality the name was changed several years back to MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) but 99% of the population still refer to it as the BMC.  Either way the acronyms have their own meaning:

BMC – Badly Maintained City
MCGM – Maharashtrians Can’t Govern Mumbai

And where does the head honcho of this organization stay – Carmichael Road (aka M.L. Dahanukar Marg).