@ pk: Dear, municipal taxes are allowed as deduction u/s-23 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 from the Gross Annual Value of the house property concerned, if it has been borne & paid by the owner of house property during the Previous Year, i.e., in case the property if situated in foreign country even the municipal taxes levied by the foreign authority are deductible, provided the conditions specified u/s-23 are satisfied. Hence, in response to your first question, the Answer is NO, we cannot claim deduction on account of disputed or payable municipal taxes from Gross Annual Value.
As per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961, we can treat any one of such self-occupied house properties as "self-occupied" & others should be treated as "deemed to be let-out". And this option can be excercised in such a way that the net income u/h "House Property" of the assessee is reduced to the minimum possible way. Thus, you have to assume all the properties as "deemed to be let out" at first instance & compute the "Income from House Property" for each of the house properties & then the option which gives the minimum income under the head "House Property" may be selected.
Example 1:
House A House B
Net Annual Value 1,00,000 1,50,000
Less: Statutory deduction @ 30% 30,000 45,000
Less: Interest on borrowed capital 50,000 40,000
Income u/h "House Property" 20,000 65,000
Option I (House A as self-occupied & House B as deemed to be let-out)
House A = (30,000)***
House B = 65,000
Income u/h "House Property" = 35,000
***due to non-complying of one or more conditions specified in provisions of IT Act.
Option II (House A as deemed to be let-out & House B as self occupied)
House A = 20,000
House B = (40,000)
Income u/h "House Property" = (20,000)
Here, it will be idle to select Option II
Example 2:
House A House B
Net Annual Value 1,00,000 50,000
Less: Statutory deduction @ 30% 30,000 15,000
Less: Interest on borrowed capital 2,00,000 70,000
Income u/h "House Property" (1,30,000) (35,000)
Option I (House A as self-occupied & House B as deemed to be let-out)
House A = (2,00,000)
House B = (70,000)
Income u/h "House Property" = (2,70,000)
Option II (House A as deemed to be let-out & House B as self occupied)
House A = (1,30,000)
House B = (70,000)
Income u/h "House Property" = (2,00,000)
Here, it will be idle to select Option I
Hence, as far as your second question is concerned, the Answer is partly Yes, as there can be different situations, as can be clearly evident from the above examples.
Hope your doubt is cleared now...