Taj Mahal gets property and water tax notices

21 Dec 2022 CW Team

In a first for the protected monument, the local council in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, has requested that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) pay 0.147million in house tax and 19.7million in water tax on the Taj Mahal.

The ASI has been given 15 days to pay the debts, failing which the property would be "attached," according to a story in the Deccan Herald.

The invoices are for the fiscal years 2021–2022 and 2022–2023, according to the notice from Agra Nagar Nigam (Agra Municipal Corporation).

Since monuments are exempt from housing and water taxes, ASI officials claimed the notice may have been sent inadvertently. According to ASI, the Taj Mahal was designated a protected monument in 1920, and no taxes were paid on it even when India was ruled by the British.

Raj Kumar Patel, the ASI's supervising archaeologist, said: "On monuments, property tax is not applicable. Since there is no commercial usage for water, we are also exempt from paying water taxes. The grounds' vegetation is kept alive by the usage of water. The first water and property tax notices for the Taj Mahal have been received. It might have been transmitted inadvertently.

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