The main legal point established in the judgment is that the State Legislature had the competence to levy property tax based on the capital value of the buildings or lands or both, and the adoption of estimated market value computed under the Stamp Act for valuation of property tax was permissible.

H.L. Dattu, J.--A tax reform made for levy, assessment and collection of property tax by the State Government by amending certain provisions of Definition Clause and Chapter VI -- "Municipal Taxation" of the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964, by the Karnataka Municipalities (Amendment) Act, 2000 (Karnataka Act 28 of 2001), is the subject-matter of this batch of writ petitions.

2. The amended provisions basically provide for tax base, tax rate, coverage and collection. The first two issues involve legal and policy issues and others are machinery and procedural provisions for collection of taxes.

3. The valuation of the property for the assessment of property tax prior to the amendment of the Act was being done on the basis of the annual rent that the property would fetch from year to year and now the legislative entry speaks of Taxable Capital Value'. Taxable value is the sum at which the property is appraised for taxation. The expression 'capital value' used in the Act is not however the cost of construction of building or its market value as a wealth. It is a working expression, which may roughly be said to be the taxable value of the building. One of the modes commonly employed for assessing the capital value of an asset is to assess its market value if that is determinable. By inserting Clause (27-A) in the amended Act, the Legislature authorises the local bodies to make valuation of buildings or lands or both in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Rules, 2002 for the purpose of assessment of property tax. The tax is levied every year on all buildings or lands or both situate within the municipal area, unless exempted under the Act or any other law.

4. The property tax being a presumptive tax, valuation does not increase automatically with rising prices. The location of the property determines the value of the property. There are different rates for residential and non-residential properties. The State Legislature by the present amendment, authorises the local bodies to levy property tax at such rates not being less than 0.3 per cent (three thousandth) and not being more than 0.6 per cent (six thousandth) of taxable capital value of the buildings or lands or both depending on various attributes of the buildings such as location, type of construction of the building, nature of use to which the building is put, plinth area of the building, age of the building and such other criteria as may be prescribed under the rules. The valuation of the land could be factored depending on location, area of the land and nature of use to which it is put and such other criteria as may be prescribed in the rules. For the purpose of the Act, the 'building' is defined to mean 'any land appurtenant to such building used as a garden and grounds for the more beneficial enjoyment of such building not exceeding thrice the area occupied by such building'.

5. The characteristics of imposition of tax are, firstly, the essence of taxation is compulsion, that is to say, it is imposed under statutory power without the tax-payers consent and the payment is enforced by law. Secondly, taxation is an imposition made for a public purpose without reference to any special benefit to be conferred on the payer of tax, the tax when collected forms part of the public revenues of the State and there is no element of quid pro quo between the tax-payer and the public authority. Thirdly, taxation is a part of the common burden, the quantum of imposition upon the tax-payer depends generally upon his capacity to pay. Lastly, taxation is for a public purpose, even if a particular person receive more benefit from the use of the tax proceeds than others. Tax has two elements, the person, thing or activity on which tax is imposed and the amount of tax.

6. The next section focuses on the method of assessment of property tax. Property assessment is the process of arriving at the net value of a property by a tax assesso