KOCHI: The Corporation budget has mooted a proposal for imposing additional tax on buildings along the Metro stretch. Deputy mayor T J Vinod , who presented the budget, said the value of buildings on either side of metro corridor has gone up after the rail project kicked and hence, additional tax has to be imposed on them.The rate of the additional tax, termed development charge, has not yet been fixed, the deputy mayor said.When the media and opposition councillors questioned the logic behind forcing the residents in the area to shell out more money, the deputy mayor said residential buildings would be exempted from the tax. When it was pointed out that the plan to collect additional tax may not stand if it is challenged in a court, Vinod said the local body would seek nod from the state government before executing the proposal.Another proposal which has been put forward for increasing tax revenue was to impose tax on wood, used for different purposes. According Vinod, around 4-lakh cubic metres of wood was being used for different purposes in Kochi. The tax collection would begin this fiscal itself and the corporation expects to gain around Rs 1 crore in revenue during the period, he said.

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