Who Imposes Taxes on a Panchayat?
The Panchayat is the local self-government body in India. It imposes taxes on properties and trades within its jurisdiction. The tax revenue collected by the Panchayat is used for the development and maintenance of the village.
Taxes Collected by Panchayat
In India, the term Panchayat refers to a system of rural self-government. It was established in all states of India by acts of state legislatures to build democracy at the grassroots level. It was constitutionalized by the 73rd Constitution Amendment Act of 1992. The second Administrative System Reforms Commission of India (2005 – 2009) has summarized the sources of revenue for the panchayat in that internal resource generation – taxation being one of them. A Gram Panchayat may appoint a tax collector to collect tax quarterly, half-yearly, or in advance as decided by the particular Gram Panchayat. The Tax Collector shall issue receipts in the prescribed forms of all types of collections and he shall also enter all collections in the daily collection register of the Gram Panchayat. According to Article 243(H), the Panchayats have the power to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls, and fees by such procedure of the State Legislature and enable them to make such grants in aid to the Panchayats from the consolidated fund of the state.