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MCC finds discrepancies in property tax collection

Wednesday, 07 September 2016 07:24 administrator
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The Hindu      Karnataka (Mysuru)      07.09.2016   

MCC finds discrepancies in property tax collection

  • collection drive:The Mysuru City Corporation has undertaken a property tax collection drive and around Rs. 3.5 crore has been collected so far.— file PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM
    collection drive:The Mysuru City Corporation has undertaken a property tax collection drive and around Rs. 3.5 crore has been collected so far.— file PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

Hotel in city recently made to cough up Rs. 20 lakh dues for four financial years; Mayor Bhyrappa pans officials for laxity on their part

The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has found glaring discrepancies in the assessment of property tax under the Self-Assessment Scheme (SAS).

Inaccurate assessment of property tax based on building area by commercial and domestic properties may have caused a revenue loss to the tune of Rs. 50 crore since the launch of SAS, said Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa on Tuesday.

MCC has undertaken a tax collection drive and around Rs. 3.5 crore has been collected since the launch. Still, property owners owe the civic body around Rs. 90 crore, Mr. Bhyrappa said.

The civic body has also collected water dues to the tune of Rs. 5 crore, he added.

The discrepancies in property tax collection were uncovered recently while collecting tax from a reputed hotel in the city. A tax difference amount of Rs. 20.21 lakh was collected from the hotel, the mayor said, as its area had been wrongly calculated under SAS.

“Though the property measured 51,272 sq.ft, it had assessed the size at 41,000 sq.ft. The hotel had been paying tax accordingly since 2013-14. We noticed this and collected the difference tax for the actual size from 2013-14 to 2016-17,” he said.

Mr. Bhyrappa expressed suspicion that many property owners might be paying less than what they should with “wrong calculations” under SAS.

Random checks

The Mayor said he has asked revenue officials to reassess tax collections and randomly check the properties, mostly commercial ones, to find more discrepancies, if any.

Blaming officials for causing revenue loss to the MCC, Mr. Bhyrappa said he has brought this to the notice of the MCC Commissioner for taking action against the officials responsible.

However, the Mayor could not give convincing replies on how property owners paying lower tax under SAS had flown under the radar all these years. He just said, “I have appointed zonal officers for property tax collection and to check discrepancies.”

Mayor says many property owners might be paying less than what they should under SAS

 

Audit report pegs tax loss to corpn. at Rs.108 crore

Friday, 02 September 2016 11:09 administrator
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The Hindu     Kerala (Kochi)         02.09.2016  

Audit report pegs tax loss to corpn. at Rs.108 crore

Local Fund Audit finds flaws in tax collection, welfare pension distribution

The city corporation, which is struggling to find resources for its day-to-day activities, is lethargic in collecting taxes, says the latest Local Fund Audit report.

The tax arrears of the local body during the 2014-15 fiscal come to a whopping Rs.108.32 crore and it collected only 36.29 per cent of the property tax from the residents of the city. Of the Rs.43.69 crore to be collected, it could collect only Rs.15.85 crore. The local body has also been going soft on collecting professional tax from traders, professionals and institutions in the city.

The municipal law empowers the local body not to renew the annual licences of agencies which have not cleared the tax arrears. Yet, the burgeoning tax arrears are a matter of serious concern, the auditors point out.

The failure of the local body in collecting tax for the advertisements displayed in the city resulted in a loss of Rs.3.34 crore. All publicity materials that are displayed in the city without remitting the tax should be removed, they say. Several institutions are found operating in the city without valid licences. A large number of tutorial institutions, parallel colleges and paramedical institutions are found operating in the city without registering themselves with the local body. The civic authorities should pay attention to collecting taxes and other statutory fee from agencies concerned, the report says.

Many flaws

The local body has also failed to fully discharge is duties regarding the maintenance of office records, services offered at its front office, publication of citizens charter, setting up of ward centres, distribution of welfare pension and implementation of rural employment guarantee scheme, the report adds.

 

1am woes: BBMP may increase garbage cess

Monday, 18 July 2016 09:21 administrator
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The Times of India     18.07.2016 

1am woes: BBMP may increase garbage cess

Not all glitzyNot all glitzy
Bengaluru: Hours before the first drink was downed on Sunday night after the extended 1am deadline for all days kicked in, BBMP was already smelling an opportunity to make money, citing increased garbage burden.

The civic body plans to increase solid waste management cess (garbage cess) on bars and restaurants and other commercial establishments by bringing in changes to trade licence rules.

Mayor BN Manjunath Reddy told TOI the increase in garbage will call for more waste management staff and additional financial expenses. "We will hold a meeting with standing committees of health, finance and taxation, on revising garbage cess on commercial establishments, and decide on the percentage of increase," he added.

Nightlife extension could also mean rearranging the schedule of garbage collection in commercial hubs. "We will be telling bars and restau rants and other establishments to segregate and package garbage to be disposed of in two shifts per day," he said.

A higher cess will come as a blow to commercial establishments, which are yet to recover from the massive hike in annual fee on trade licences introduced early this year.

Starting February 1, the BBMP's Taxation and Finance Committee raised the fee, citing Section 443(2)(a) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act. For seven-star hotels, the fee ranges from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, for five-star hotels Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, three-star hotels Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, and for bakeries using more than 10 HP power, the rate is Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.

The manager of a barcum-restaurant on Church Street said the civic body should consult all stakeholders before arriving at any conclusion on garbage cess."Garbage disposal is not being done scientifically by the civic body . There is a lot of bribery involved even to pick up waste from commercial hubs," he added.

Indiranagar resident Prakash K Raj's worry is that eateries will pass on the additional burden to customers."Already , eating or drinking out is a costly affair. If it becomes more expensive, extending nightlife will mean little," said Raj.
 

MCC is due a whopping Rs. 134 crore as water tax

Thursday, 14 July 2016 07:36 administrator
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The Hindu       14.07.2016 

MCC is due a whopping Rs. 134 crore as water tax

Corporation will take up a drive to collect amount, taking police help if needed

More than 3,520 water connections were given to various commercial establishments in Mysuru and they owe thecivic body a total of Rs. 30 crore.— file photo
More than 3,520 water connections were given to various commercial establishments in Mysuru and they owe thecivic body a total of Rs. 30 crore.— file photo

Citizens, government offices, industries and commercial establishments in the city owe a total of Rs. 134 crore to the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) as water tax.

MCC has now decided to take up a drive to collect dues from consumers. It has also resolved to stop supplying water to those who fail to pay at least part of their dues and regularise their connections. The civic body will take help from the police to do so in sensitive areas.

Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa and L.N. Anand, executive engineer, Vani Vilas Water Works, told The Hindu that there were over 1.59 lakh connections in 65 wards in the city. Of them, 1.39 lakh are active. They said domestic consumers have dues in the range of Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 5,000. MCC is due a total of Rs. 11 crore from them.

There are over 310 water connections given to industries, who owe a total of Rs. 7 crore. Similarly, over 3,520 connections were given to commercial establishments and they owe a total of Rs. 30 crore. Meanwhile, non-domestic consumers such as government offices, school and colleges owe Rs.16 crore. There are 6,258 such connections.

The mayor said MCC wanted to collect dues from citizens without burdening them, and hence is allowing the consumers to pay in instalments if their total due exceeds Rs. 5,000.

Similarly, he said, poor people who want to regularise their water connections (for a fee of Rs. 3,150) can pay in instalments of Rs. 500.

Mr. Anand said there are more than 30,000 unauthorised water connections in the city, a majority being in Narasimharaja constituency.

 

MCC to crack down on undervaluation of properties

Wednesday, 21 January 2015 09:03 administrator
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The Hindu        21.01.2015   

 

MCC to crack down on undervaluation of properties

Standing panel expresses concern that property tax collection is being affected

Revenue inspectors and Assistant Commissioners have been given one month’s time to assess all the 10,750 commercial buildings in the city. A random survey of a few private properties has also been ordered.— file Photo: M.A. Sriram
Revenue inspectors and Assistant Commissioners have been given one month’s time to assess all the 10,750 commercial buildings in the city. A random survey of a few private properties has also been ordered.— file Photo: M.A. Sriram

The Mysore City Corporation (MCC) will crack down on undervaluation of properties under the Self Assessment Scheme (SAS) for computing property tax.

Revenue inspectors and Assistant Commissioners have been given one month’s time to assess all the 10,750 commercial buildings in the city to ascertain whether their declaration under the SAS was reflective of the actual built-up area. In addition, a random survey of a few private properties has also been ordered.

The issue came up before the MCC Finance, Taxation and Appeals Standing Committee meeting here on Tuesday where the members expressed concern over the undervaluation of commercial properties.

The meeting was chaired by the Standing Committee Chairperson Haseen Taj Saleem and attended by other members who pointed out that undervaluation of the built-up area was affecting property tax collection.

Under SAS, property owners have to declare the details of the built-up area based on which the tax payable is calculated.

However, there were complaints in the past even from some NGOs that there was no way of ascertaining if the declarations were true or if the built-up area was being undervalued. With nearly 1.76 lakh properties registered in the city, it is not humanly possible to assess each and every property by the MCC.

But, Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) G. Jagadeesh told The Hindu that random assessments would be done in case of private residential properties. But there are nearly 10,750 commercial properties all of which will be measured, he said.

“Those found guilty of undervaluation will be penalised and penalty collected from them for which there is provision under the SAS.”

The MCC has a target of collecting Rs.85 crore by way of property tax of which the corporation collected Rs. 65.5 crore as of date.

Property tax is the single largest source of revenue for the MCC, which is cash-strapped to provide civic amenities to the public.

 
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