THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Land is one of the major sources to increase revenue as per the new budget. An additional revenue of Rs 80 crore is expected by increasing the basic land tax and Rs 200 crore by increasing the registration fee by 10 per cent. The total registration revenue is expected to cross Rs 4,000 crore. This is a preliminary calculation.

In the last financial year, the land tax collection was Rs 139 crore.

Currently, land tax is levied in two slabs in the panchayat, municipal and corporation areas. It will be divided into four slabs. The Land Revenue Commissioner has submitted the new slabs to the Finance Department. The bill will be ready soon.

The fair value of land is determined based on more than 30 factors. The fair price should be renewed, including the type of item to be modified. The last fair price was set in 2010. It is customary to increase the fixed price by a fixed percentage each year. It is now almost double the fair value of 2010.

Taxes will be increased for people who owns more land.The last increase in land tax was in 2018.

Those with 40.47 R (1.36 acres) of land will have to pay Rs 303 in the panchayat, Rs 607 in the municipality and Rs 1214 in the corporation as per the new slab. At present it is Rs 202, Rs 404.70 and Rs 809.40 respectively.

Land registration revenue also increased significantly during the Covid crisis. It is expected that the revenue will cross Rs 4,000 crore with the increase in stamp duty and registration fees when the fair price is increased.

As on February this year, the registration revenue was Rs 673 crore higher than the previous year.