TRlPURAAc:f. NO. 3 OF 1979.
I
I f
THE l'RIPURA LAND TAX AC1\ 1978
,
•
1
2
Tripura Act No. 3 of 1979.
. THE TRIPl'RA LAND TAX ACT, 1978.
AN
ACT to provide for levy of tax on lands in the State of Tripura. BE it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Tripura in the Twentyninth Year of the Republic of India as follows :-
Short title,
1. (1) This Act may be called the Tripura extend and commencement. Land Tax Act, 1978.
(2) It extends to whole of the State of Tripura.
(3) It shall come into force with imme- diate effect.
Definitions.
2. In this Act, unless the context other- wise requires-
(a) 'agriculture' includes horticulture, the raising of annual or periodical crops or garden produce, dairy farming, poultry' farming, stock breeding. grazing and pisciculture ;
(b) 'agricultural land' means land used for the purposes of agriculture and includes lands which may be lying fallow for the time being;
(c) 'family' means the person, the wife or husband, as the case may be, and minor children but excluding married minor daughters;
(d) 'holding' means the aggregate land owned by members of a family in the Slate of Tripura ;
(e) 'market value' means value as determined under the Tripura Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960, and rules made there- under;
3 (f) 'non-agricultural lands' means all lands which are not agricultural land;
(g) 'prescribed' means prescribed in the rules made under this Act ;
(h) 'profits of agriculture' means the profits of agricullure as determined under the Tripura Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960, and rules made thereunder ;
(i) 'village' will have the same mean- ing as given in the Tripura Land Revenue and Land Reforms Act, 1960 ;
(j) 'year' means the financial year beginning on the first day of April of the calendar year and ending on the 31st day of March of the next calendar year.
3. (1) Save as otherwise provided in this Levyand_ t and with effect from the 1st day of April.
collectionof tax on 79. there shall be levied and collected 1'01'
holdings. h year an amount of tax calculated on the r fit of agriculture in the case of agricul- ral lands and on the market value of the d in the case of non-agricultural lands, in p et of each holding at the rate specified in
e chedule.
Explanation.-Size of a holding as on the -t day of April of each year shall be the i for assessing the lax payable during that
ar.
2) In determining the profits of agricul-
or the market value of land under this ct the provisions of the Tripura Land Reve- nue and Land Reforms Act, 1960, and the ule made thereunder shall apply mutatis mutandis.
4. The assessment of tax payable will be
Assessmentofad in the name of the head of family, how-
ax. - '1'. all the members of the family shall main jointly and severally responsible for payment of tax.
3
4
Mode of
5. The tax shall be payable in two instal- payment.
ments during each year; the last date for the first instalment being 15th September and of the second 15th March and shall be deposited in the manner to be prescribed.
Penalty for
6. Whoever makes default on payment of default.
tax under this Act within the date specified in section 5 shall be liable, in addition to the tax, a penalty at the following rates,-
(i) for default on payment upto 10% of of tax upto one pear the a mount of tax payable. (ii) for default 'on pay-
upto 25% of ment of tax for more the amount than one year but upto of tax pay- three years able. (iii)
for default on pay-
upto 50% of ment of tax beyond the amount three years of tax pay- able
Manner of
7. The assessment of annual tax payable Publication
of the for each holding shall be prepared and pub- assessment lished by such authority and in such manner of tax. as may be prescribed.
Provision
8. Any person aggrieved in any way by for filing
the assessment of tax made under section 7, objection.
may file an application within 15 days from the date of publication of such assessment to such authority as may be prescribed against such assessment:
Provided that no such application shall be entertained by the said authority unless he is satisfied that the amount of tax assessed or penalty if any levied upto the previous year, if not otherwise directed by him, has been paid.
Decisions
9. The prescribed authority shall after on objections.
such enquiry as he may deem fit, decide the application at least one month before the due date of payment of tax and the orders there- on shall be communicated to the person con- cerned:
--
5
• Provided that in case the application is not decided at least one month before the due date of payment of tax suitable extension for deposit of tax shall be given to the applicant.
10. (1) Where a holding is located in
Procedureofmore than one village a statement in respect
holdings in of such holding shall be filed containing such
more than onevillage. particulars and in such manner as may be prescribed, at least 3 months before the due date of payment of tax, to the authority pres- cribed under section 7 within whose jurisdic- tion the major part of the holding is situated and such authority shall take all subsequent proceedings in respect of such statement to the exclusion of the other prescribed authorities:
Provided that where the size of the hold-
ing is equally divided the statement shall be ubmitted to anyone of the prescribed autho-
rities under intimation to the other prescribed authorities.
(2) The tax in respect of such holdings
hall be deposited by the due date as per assessment made by the persons filing the tatement.
(3) Where no such statement is filed and any prescribed authority has reasons to believe that the holding is located in more than one village, he may require the head of family by issuing a notice in the prescribed form to file a statement in respect of his holding within a period of 60 days from the date of receipt of such notice.
(4) If no statement is furnished in res- pect of any holding or if the prescribed autho- rity is not satisfied that the statement furnished i correct and complete, the authority shall make the assessment on the basis .of his judgement and after such enquiry as it may deem fit and determine the amount of tax payable and penalty leviable:
)
6 Provided that no assessment under this section shall be made without giving the affected person a reasonable opportunity of
. being heard.
(5) In a case where the assessmenl has been completed, and the assessing authority has reason to believe, that there has been under-assessment of tax by reasons of omission or failure on the part of a person to furnish a statement under this section or to disclose fully and trully all material facts, the assessing authority may on his own motion make a fresh assessment within a period of four years following the year in which the assessment was made, after giving the person a reasonable opportunity of'/being heard.
(6) The head of family shall deposi t the additional amount of tax and penalty, if any, ordered lo be paid by the prescribed authority within 30 days of the date of intimation of the orders of the prescribed authority failing which the amount of default shall be subject to penalties as provided under section 6 and the period of default shall be counted from the expiry of 30 days of the date of intimation of such orders.
Appeal.
11. (1) An appeal shall lie against any original order passed under this Act to such authority as may be prescribed, if made with- in 30 days from the date of such order :
Provided that no such appeal shall be entertained by the said authority unless he is satisfied that the amount of tax assessed or the penalty levied has been paid. The decision of the said authority shall, subject to the order of the Tribunal, be final.
(2) In disposing an appeal under sub- section (1) the appellate authority may con- firm, set aside or modify the order.
6
7 12. (1) The State Government may, by
Tribunal. notification in Official Gazette, constitute a Tribunal to be called the Tripura Land Tax
. Tribunal. The Tribunal shall consist of such members as the Stale Government may deem fit to appoint:
Provided that there may be more than one Tribunal for different areas of the State of Tripura.
(2) The qualification, conditions of service, tenure of a member of the Tribunal, the procedure for the functioning of a Tribunal shall be such as may be prescribed.
13. (1) Any person aggrieved by an order
Appealtopassed on appeal under section 11 may appeal
Tribunal. to the Tribunal within 60 days of the date of communication of the order.
(2) The Tribunal may admit the appeal
after the expiration of 60 days if satisfied that for reasons beyond the control of appellant or for any other sufficient cause it could not be filed within time.
(3) The Tribunal may after giving an appellant an opportunity of being heard pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit and shall communicate such orders to the appellant and the authority prescribed under section 7.
14. The prescribed authority under section
Refundand7 shall give effect to the decisions taken by the
set off. appellate authority or the Tribunal as the case may be and if necessary refund the excess amount collected provided that such excess amount may be set off against future tax of the appellant.
15. No tax shall be leviable for the land
Exemption. held by the State Government or the Central Government.
7
8
Remission.
16. The State Government may by noti- fication in Official Gazette remit the tax wholly or partly, for such periods and for such cate- gories of holdings, and for such areas, as may be notified.
Recovery of
17. All dues payable in respect of any arrears.
holding under this Act shall be recoverable as an arrears of land revenue.
Bar of
18. No suit shall he brought in any civil suit in
courls to set aside or modify any assessment civil courts.
made or orders passed under the provisions of this Act, and no prosecution. suit or other proceedings shall lie against any officer of the State Government for anything in good faith done or intended lo be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.
Power to take
19. The Tribunal and the prescribed evidence etc.
authority hall, for the purpose of this Act, have the same power as are vested in a court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908) , when trying a case, in respect of the following matters :-
1) enforcing the attendance of any person
and examining him on oath or afirma- tion;
2) compelling the production of docu- ments;
3) issuing commission for the examination of witnesses; and any such proceed- ings before the Tribunal or the pres- cribed authority shall be deemed to be a "judicial proceedings" within the meaning of sections 193, 228 and sec- tion 196 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act XLV of 1860).
Power to
20. (1) The State Government may make make rules.
rules for carrying out the purposes of the Act.
..9
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may, in parti- cular, prescribe-
(a) all matters required by this Act to be prescribed ;
(b) the classes and duties of officers appointed under this Act;
(c) the procedure to be adopted for the various proceedings under this Act ;
(d) the manner in which refunds shall be made;
(e) the fees, if any, for appeals and other matters;
(f) any other matter necessary for giving effect to the purposes of this Act.
(3) Every rule made by the State Govern- ment under this Act shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of not less than fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions and if, before the expiry 'of the session in which it is so laid or the successive session aforesaid the Legis- lative Assembly agrees in making any modi- fication in the rule or the Legislative Assembly agrees that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter ha ve effect only in such modified form or be of no effect as the case may be, so, however, that any such modifi- cation of annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.
9
10 SCHEDULE
(See section 3)
FOR AGRICULTURAL LANDS.
i) For 'Nal' and 'Lunga' type of agricultural land the rate of tal{per acre shall be:-
Area of land. Rate of tax
a) Holdings upto 3 acres 1% of the profits of agriculture subject to a maximum of 25 paise per acre.
b) Holdings above 3 and upto 5 4% of the profits of agriculture. acres
c) Holdings above 5 acres and 6% of the profits of agriculture. upto 10 acres
d) Holdings above 10 and upto 8% of the profits of agriculture. 15 acres
e) Holdings above 15 acres 12% of the profits of agriculture.
ii) for lands falling in classifications other than those of Nal and Lunga, by whatever name called, the rate of tax shall be l/3rd of the rate leviable for the relevant categories of holding.
FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL LANDS TAX SHALL BE LEVIED ON THE
MARKET VALUE OF LANDS ON THE FOLWWING SCALE:-
i) For municipal and notified areas ;-
Area of land Rate of' tax
a) Holdings upto l/lOth of an acre .05%
b) Holdings above I/IOth of an acre and upto I/5th of an acre ..1%
c) Holdings above 1/5th and upto t acre .4%
d) Holdings above t acre and upto 1 acre
.6%
e) Holdings above 1 acre
.8%
ii) For areas other tban municipal and notified areas
a) Holdings upto 1/5th of an acre .01%
b) Holdings above 1/5th of an acre and up 0 t acre
.2%
c) Holdings above t acre and upto 1 acre .4%
d) Holdings beyond 1 acre
.8%
J.K.BHATTACHARJYA.
Secretary to the Govt. of Tripura .
•
10
Printed by The Superintendent, Tripura Governmont Press, AprtaIa.
l • TGPA-i-5-79-SOO.
11