Agra: The Agra Municipal Corporation has issued a notice to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to pay Rs 1 crore as water tax and Rs 1.47 lakh as property tax for The Taj Mahal.
According to ASI’s Superintending Archaeologist Raj Kumar Patel such taxes are not applicable to historical monuments. Believing that the departments have issued the notices by mistake he will be sending a reply to all the parties concerned.
He claimed that since free facilities are provided to the public and no commercial work is being done in the Taj Mahal’s premises, taxes are not applicable on the monument. For the exemption from such taxes he cited the UP Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Preservation Act. He also gave reference of the special provision implemented in November 2017 for the tax exemption.
Meanwhile, Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber secretary Vishal Sharma has also expressed shock at the notice saying that the Taj Mahal is a central government property and a world heritage monument. He wondered why the Agra Municipal Corporation has served a tax recovery notice for the monument to the ASI.
Claiming that the Taj Mahal was declared a protected monument about 102 years back in 1920, he noted that this is the first time that the ASI has been served a house tax notice for the monument.
Surprisingly, the notice also includes interest on the non-payment of taxes in the past.
