Ex-servicemen not required to pay taxes on their homes

Indian Military Veterans

Ex-servicemen not required to pay taxes on their homes

Most servicemen leave the military between the age of 35 and 40 and settle in or near their hometowns. Starting a second life is not so easy. They shoulder huge loans, suddenly lose their entire salary, food and other allowances and their earning potential is reduced to less than half. Since the settlement and rehabilitation of these ex-servicemen is the responsibility of the State, it is considered that their request for exemption from taxes on salary, occupation and housing should be received favorably. In this connection, the Minister of Defence, in his letter dated 11th October 1996, has requested the Prime Ministers/Lieutenant Governors of the concerned States/Associated States to favorably consider the issue of exemption of ex-servicemen of the said States/Associated States from payment of house tax/property tax. The concessions granted by various states include exemption from stamp duty, examination fees, registration fees, hospital charges, entertainment tax and provision of free legal aid. States/UTs which have not introduced exemption from house tax/property tax for ESMs and war widows/war widows have been requested to introduce it at the earliest.

Following the request of the Ministry of Defence, the state authorities have granted exemption from house tax/property tax for ESMs/widows and war widows as per the details given herein.

Details of House Tax Exemption for Exserviceman

S. No	State/UT	House Tax Exempted or Not With Brief Description  of Amendment	Remarks (Income Ceiling Rs……… / Area…. Etc) Other considerations/ caveats
1.	A.P	Yes Government of AP has issued orders for Exemption of property tax in respect of ex- servicemen, widows of ex-service men and also serving Soldiers belonging to Andhra Pradesh who are residing in the villages of Panchayat areas, Municipalities and Corporations	G.O. Ms No. 83 MA, dated 15 Mar 1997, Municipal Admn & Urban Development (TC) Dept.G.O. Ms No. 217 MA, dated 01 Sep 1997, Municipal Admn & Urban Development (TC-1) Department.G.O. Ms No. 371, dated 20 Nov 2003, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development (Pt-III) Department.
2.	Arunachal Pradesh	–	–
3.	Assam	–	–
4.	Bihar	No	–
5.	Chhattisgarh	Yes	50% exemption in house tax out of property tax is provided to all non income tax payees ESM.
6.	Delhi	Gallantry Award/ Mention-in-Despatch win- ners/ widows of Gallantry award winners/ war widows – 100% Ex-servicemen/ widows – 30%
7.	Goa	Exempted	No limit of income ceiling
8.	Gujarat	Exempted to ESM and War Widows.	Property tax is exempted.
9.	Haryana                   Ex-servicemen are exempted from house tax in Haryana provided it is self occupied and applicable for only one house.
10.	H.P	Ex-servicemen, serving soldiers, their families & freedom fighters residing in the Municipal areas of the State were exempted from the Municipal Tax on land and buildings provided the ratable value thereof does not exceed Rs. 1200/- and his annual income from all sources does not exceed Rs. 2400/-.	Case of revision of rates at par with rates applicable in Punjab State has been taken up with the State Govt and the same is under consideration of the Govt.
11.	J & K (UT)	House tax is not applicable in J&K	–
12.	Jharkhand	NIL	Case taken up with State Govt
13.	Karnataka	50% exemption in House tax	–
14.	Kerala	Exemption to houses with plinth area upto 2000 Sqr ft	No
15.	MP	50% exempted to non income tax payee.	Non income tax payee.
16.	Maharashtra	Govt of Maharashtra, Rural Development and Water Conservation department, Notification No VPM, 2015. C.R./PR-4 (22) dated 31 Dec 2105.	Defence Personnel recipients of Gallantry or Non Gallantry awards and widows dependents   of          these awardees, shall be exempted from the tax on only residential building.
		Govt of Maharashtra, Urban Development Department, GR dated 05 Apr 2016 as amended vide  GR of even No dt 07 Apr 2016.	Gallantry Award Winners and widows of ex-servicemen, residing in the Urban Local Body Society area, are given exemption from property tax for the property in their name.
		Govt of Maharashtra, Urban Development Department, GR dated 09 Jan 2017.	Govt of Maharashtra has exempted property tax to the nom inated properties of unmarried soldiers, residing in the Urban Local Bodies area and who have been martyred while protecting the country.
17.	Manipur
18.	Meghalaya	NA
19.	Mizoram	Ex-servicemen and dependent of soldier killed in action are exempted from House Tax vide letter No. LRA/A-96/88 dated 16 September 1992.
20.	Nagaland	Yes	Nil
21.	Odisha	Yes	Nil
22.	Punjab	Exempted vide Department of Legal and Legislative Affairs notification no. 38-leg/ 2014 dated 16.12.2014.
23.	Rajasthan	House tax exempted.
24.	Sikkim	Not applicable	Not applicable
25.	Tamil Nadu	The Government of Tamil Nadu Municipal administration Department had stated the inability to House Tax exemption due to Financial Constraints.
However Reimbursement of House Tax is given to Chakra awardees, War Widows, War disabled, Ex-servicemen and Widows of Ex-servicemen out of Benevolent Fund.
26.	Tripura	NIL	N/A
27.	Telangana	Yes Government of TS has issued orders for Exemption of property tax in respect of ex- servicemen, wives, wi d o w s o f ex-servicemen and also serving soldiers belonging to Telangana State who are residing in the villages of Panchayat areas, Municipalities and Corporations irrespective of the number of floors provided they have one Property Number.	G.O. Ms No. 83 MA, dated 15 Mar 1997, Municipal Admn & Urban Development (TC) Deppt. G.O. Ms No. 217 MA, dated 01 Sep 1997, Municipal Admn & Urban Development (TC-1) Department.G.O. Ms No. 371, dated 20 Nov 2003, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development (Pt-III) Department.G.O. Ms No. 301 MA, dated 27.12.2016, Municipal Admn & Urban Development (TC-1) Department.
28.	Uttarakhand	Exempted	House tax for self occupied house of ESM/Serving soldiers has been exempted.
29.	U.P	Only  War  Widow  occupying      self ownership house is exempted House Tax.
30.	West Bengal	As per Govt Gazette notification No 2781- 1 dt 12 Dec 1997 of the Calcutta munici- pal corporation (Amendment Act) 1997, there is a provision of 25% municipal tax exemption for the defence personnel.
31.	A & N (UT)	Nil	Nil
32.	Chandigarh(UT)	Chandigarh Administration	No tax shall be liveable on residential lands and building up to 300 Sq yards owned and self occupied.
33.	Puducherry(UT)	Grant of exemption from payment of property tax/ house tax by ESM/ widow	No income ceiling