Panaji, Nov 10 (IANS) Planning to buy a second home in Goa for investment purposes? Think again. The Goa government is examining a proposal from a land use panel which has proposed a hefty occupancy tax for second flat or home possessors who do not live on the premises.

The proposal made by the Goa government's state level committee (SLC) Thursday has also proposed that the occupancy tax - the quantum of tax has not been decided yet - be imposed in retrospective effect from 2005, when the real estate boom first began in a big way in Goa.

"Buying a home in Goa for Goans is getting increasingly difficult because a lot of rich people from outside are buying 'holiday' homes here. The prices are getting out of hand for the local population. Some outsiders buy homes only for their New Year celebrations. This proposed occupancy tax, we hope will have a deterrent effect," Rahul Deshpande, an architect and a member of the SLC, told reporters here.

"Only Goans who are residents can skip the tax, along with those outsiders who contribute to the economy of the state, like those who own industries or have business establishments here," Deshpande said.

Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said that the occupancy tax slabs would be put in place soon. "I personally know people who have bought two or three houses in Goa. This has to stop if we have to retain the identity of Goa," Kamat said.

Real estate prices have shot up in Goa, almost on the lines of those in the metros, in the recent past, with aggressive marketing of second homes by real estate promoters to wealthy investors outside the state.

Mega housing projects, cropping across the countryside, have also faced stiff resistance from civil society groups, who have objected to the fact that the real estate lobby had converted Goa purely into a market for investment-oriented second homes.

Public resentment towards real estate intensive projects had also forced the Goa government to cancel seven special economic zone (SEZ) projects in 2008, several of which were promoted by real estate companies.