New property tax regime will push rents up To be implemented on April 1.

The rents in the garden city of Bengaluru are set to go up further. Thanks to the civic body BBMP introducing the value-based property tax regime on April 1, the property tax is scheduled to increase, as are the house rents.

The new tax regime helps double property tax assessment and collection. Similarly, depending on the category of the property, the commercial tax is tipped to increase three to five times.

Commercial property is divided into seven categories, depending on the category. These include paying for guest accommodation, convention halls, or malls. The property owners and traders estimate that the annual property tax due to BBMP is set to increase by 40% because of the introduction of a guidance value of 33%.

A BBMP official brushed aside rumours of a new tax regime increasing property taxes by 10 to 20 times. The official said that it was not a new tax system but was in vogue in many cities in Karnataka—the value-based property tax regime. Before implementing it, the new tax system was implemented for six lakh properties. The BBMP official asked the house owners not to be worried about the new tax system, as its impact would be negligible at 5%.