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Taxation


Water tax arrears tangle for GVMC

Wednesday, 14 January 2015 04:56 administrator
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The Hindu     14.01.2015    

Water tax arrears tangle for GVMC

Water tax arrears continue to saddle the cash-strapped GVMC so much so that they account for more than the current year’s demand.

Of the Rs.27 crore pending, arrears for 2014-15 are a whopping Rs.13 crore. Last year’s tax payment was poor with not even a quarter of the demand of Rs.16.5 crore being realised. The arrears are only from individual domestic tap connections that include below poverty line (BPL) families. The current year has better compliance with Rs.4 crore of the total demand of Rs.14 crore demand realised. However, officials who have decided to issue notices to pay up or face disconnection are now making a distinction between arrears and current demand. Disconnection notices are being issued only to the arrears of last year, Superintendent Engineer (Water Supply) Moses Kumar told The Hindu . Even those notices are issued to only assessments where the amount is more than Rs.5,000, he says. The individual tap connections are a total of 1.63 lakh. No interest is levied on delayed water tax payment.

Meanwhile, for some payments remitted at two eseva centres wrong entries have been made. As a result, those who paid the bills faced disconnection after GVMC began issuing notices, it was learnt. “It’s a software problem. Officials have taken it to the notice of higher-ups for a solution,” Additional Commissioner (Finance) S.S. Varma said.

 

Now you can pay GHMC taxes in banks

Friday, 26 December 2014 10:26 administrator
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The Hindu          26.12.2014   

Now you can pay GHMC taxes in banks

To make the process of different tax and licence fee payments easier for citizens, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has tied-up with different banks in the city.

So far, the civic body has been accepting property tax, advertisement tax, trade licence, building permission fee and other payments only at e-Seva and Citizen Service Centres.

Since these centres are limited in numbers in the city, those having to pay the taxes and fee had to travel and queue up for their turn.

Seeking to ease the payment mode easier, the civic body has decided to tie-up with different banks and facilitate receipt of taxes and license fee at 555 different branches of these banks. These agreements were reached with senior representatives of banks at a special meeting convened by the GHMC recently.

Also, for payments made at e-Seva and Citizen Service Centres, the GHMC had to pay a service charge which would not be required with the new mode of bank payments thus saving around Rs.50 lakh to the civic body.

Network banks

“Citizens henceforth can visit nearest branch of these networked banks and make the payment instead of having to travel to Citizen Service Centres and so on,” said GHMC Commissioner and Special Officer Somesh Kumar.

The banks that have tied-up with the civic body to accept the taxes and fee include 200 branches of the State Bank of Hyderabad, 200 branches of Andhra Bank, 74 branches of ICICI, 45 branches of Indian Bank, 15 branches of Indus Hind, 11 branches of Yes Bank and 10 branches of Kotak.

Few more banks have also evinced interest in joining the network, according to Mr. Somesh Kumar.

The banks have also agreed to set up separate counters for receiving the taxes at their branches and appropriate boards to this effect would be displayed there, he said.

The payments could be made in cash or through, credit card or debit card.

 

KMC not to levy water tax

Wednesday, 24 December 2014 09:46 administrator
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The Times of India         24.12.2014  

KMC not to levy water tax

 KMC not to levy water tax

 


The Kolkata Municipal Corporation will not levy tax on drinking water for the citizens.

KOLKATA: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation will not levy tax on drinking water for the citizens. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee made it clear at a function on Tuesday evening at Dhapa, located off Eastern Metropolitan Bypass where the CM inaugurated a water treatment plant with a capacity to supply 30 million gallons of filtered water. While expressing happiness that the new water treatment plant would meet the demands of lakhs of residents living along EM Bypass, Banerjee raised the tax issue and made it amply clear that the Trinamool Congress was dead against imposition of tax on drinking water.

"When we came to power in 2000 in the KMC, I advised the then mayor Subrata Mukherjee to arrange for sufficient water for the citizens across Kolkata. But I had also advised not to levy tax on water as it is an essential service which should come free of cost. I am glad that the KMC has constructed a water treatment plant to cater the entire EM Bypass population. Even today I have advised not to levy tax on this essential service," Banerjee said after inaugurating the water treatment plant. Banerjee advised mayor Sovan Chatterjee who was present at the function to ensure safety and security of the entire water treatment plant complex.

"I think the civic body needs a police outpost to man the new water plant as it is a sensitive installation," Banerjee said. In reply, the mayor said that the KMC had already donated 1.5 bigha land to Kolkata police to set up a police station for the safety of the water treatment plant. Former mayor Subrata Mukherjee also present at the function recalled how the Trinamool Congress run KMC board had initiated augmentation of water supply in Kolkata by modernizing Palta waterworks. CM speaking at the function asked the mayor to ensure that people get filtered water at the earliest. According to the KMC water supply department officials, the residents of EM Bypass from Beliaghata to Patuli (Garia) would get filtered water from the newly constructed plant by next three weeks.
 

NDMC presents budget, proposes hike in taxes

Thursday, 20 November 2014 05:49 administrator
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The Hindu      20.11.2014 

NDMC presents budget, proposes hike in taxes

A range of tax hikes and new cesses were proposed by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation on Wednesday when Commissioner Pravin Kumar Gupta presented the budget for 2015-2016.

At a special meeting of the Standing Committee, Mr. Gupta proposed a 50 per cent hike in the base unit area value for property tax assessment and an increase in one-time charges. He also proposed a congestion charge for four-wheelers entering the busy City, Sadar Paharganj and Karol Bagh zones. Also for the time, Mr. Gupta suggested a cleaning tax to be levied on residents and organisers of public events.

To improve sanitation services, the Commissioner said Rs.80 crore had been earmarked for garbage collection in four of the corporation’s six zones. Another Rs.5 crore was earmarked for the reclamation of the sanitary landfill site at Bhalswa. Under the Centre’s Swachh Bharat campaign, the corporation will set up 100-litre dustbins at a cost of Rs.1.5 crore and build 100 ‘electronic toilets’ in schools and markets at a cost of Rs.6 crore.

North Corporation Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Goel said the budget proposal would burn a hole in the pockets of citizens. “The Commissioner has not spared anyone, from property-owners to those buying new cars. We won’t allow the BJP to burden people,” said Mr. Goel.

Meanwhile, the North Corporation’s budget deficit will increase from Rs.770 crore in 2013-2014 to Rs.850 crore in 2014-2015. The budgetary shortfall is being met by internal borrowings, however, the Commissioner proposed “expenditure control measures”.

The budget for 2015-2016 stated that the deficit should be controlled at Rs.700 crore. For the financial year 2015-2016, the expenditure will be Rs.4,422.87 crore and income is expected to be Rs.4,404.11 crore.

 

GHMC to waive property tax up to Rs. 4,000

Friday, 07 November 2014 09:33 administrator
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The Hindu        06.11.2014

GHMC to waive property tax up to Rs. 4,000

Move could offer relief to over 10 lakh house owners

In a major decision that could offer relief to more than 10 lakh owners of residential premises in the city, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Standing Committee has decided to waive property tax up to Rs.4,000.

The Mayor, Mohammed Majid Hussain, who chaired the committee meeting on Thursday, later told presspersons that a unanimous resolution was passed to do away with property tax for those paying the tax in the bracket of Re.1 to Rs.4,000.

“It is for residential premises only and perhaps for the first time contemplated by any civic body in the country,” he said.

Government approval

After the general body endorses the resolution, it would be forwarded to the government for approval. “The government has to make certain amendments for which we will personally meet Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and pursue the matter,” he said.

GHMC has around 13.20 lakh assessed properties and this resolution would benefit more than 10 lakh premises.

Huge relief

“The revenue loss would be between Rs.100 crore and Rs.120 crore but it will provide a huge relief to families from below poverty, lower and middle class sections,” said Mr. Hussain flanked by Deputy Mayor G.Raj Kumar.

From Rs.300 crore three years ago, the civic body revenue collection grew to the present Rs.1,000 crore.

High revenues

“We have high revenues and we need to provide the best for our citizens and Rs.100 crore or so is not a big issue for GHMC,” the Mayor said. The committee, however, did not approve and returned a proposal to replace existing street lighting with LEDs to improve illumination levels on roads.

Approval was, however, accorded to construct road/ramp to mid-landing of steps at the Moula Ali dargah for a revised estimate of Rs.220 lakh.

 
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