Taxation

Pune Municipal Corporation rakes in Rs 4.5 crore from traders for local body tax evasion

Saturday, 30 November 2013 11:26 administrator

The Times of India 30.11.2013

Pune Municipal Corporation rakes in Rs 4.5 crore from traders for local body tax evasion

PUNE: Civic officials on Thursday carried out massive search operations at the establishments of a trader and slapped a penalty of Rs 48 lakh on him for defaulting on local body tax (LBT) on materials worth over Rs 5 crore.

"This is the biggest raid we have conducted, so far. We raided four establishments owned by this trader around 9 am and inspections continued till late evening. We found that the trader had bought garments, furniture and other goods worth around Rs 5 crore. He was supposed to pay an LBT of around Rs 18 lakh on the goods purchased, but he will now have to shell out Rs 48 lakh including the penalty for evading the tax," said Rajendra Jagtap, additional commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation.

The civic body's LBT department initiated a special drive against defaulters on November 20, which will be conducted in phases till March. So far, the officials have conducted several raids across the city and have caught as many as 16 traders for tax evasion on goods total worth Rs 4.5 crore.

Civic officials said the administration has sought the state government's permission to carry out such raids. Random checks are being carried out at garment, liquor and small-scale industries primarily. Traders who remain unregistered will have to pay five times the LBT amount, whereas the registered traders evading the tax will have to shell out two times their LBT amount.

"We have been studying the data available with the sales tax and octroi department and other government agencies. The officials have zeroed in on some traders, who are liable to pay LBT, but have not done so. We provide the state government with specific inputs and then conduct the raids after obtaining prior permission," said Jagtap.

Octroi, property tax and development charges were the main sources of revenue for the PMC. The state government replaced octroi with LBT and the new tax structure came into force from April 1. As per the LBT rules, all traders who import goods worth over Rs 5,000 into the city have to register with the local civic body. Till date, the civic body has collected Rs 750 crore as LBT revenue.

Rs 5 crore worth goods bought by the trader

Rs 18 lakh was the LBT amount he evaded on the goods purchased

Rs 48 lakh is the fine he would now have to pay

16 traders caught so far for evading tax

Rs 4.5 crore collected as penalty

Rs 750 crore is PMC's LBT collection so far this fiscal

Civic body mops up Rs 18.59 crore as local body tax in current month

Saturday, 30 November 2013 11:18 administrator

The Times of India 30.11.2013

Civic body mops up Rs 18.59 crore as local body tax in current month

AURANGABAD: Though the cash-strapped Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has mopped up Rs 18.59 crore as local body tax (LBT) in November this year, it is still struggling to achieve its annual target of Rs 200 crore LBT collection.

Deputy municipal commissioner Suresh Pedgaonkar, however, said that the civic body would achieve the target as it has collected Rs 112.9 crore till date under the head. "Normally, the collection figures are quite encouraging in the last two quarters of every financial year. From now onwards we hope to receive a monthly collection of about Rs 20 crore," Pedgaonkar said on Friday.

But experts in the field said that LBT collection figure in the city would not touch the Rs 200-crore mark. "It is only because of the Dasara and Diwali festivals that the AMC could collect Rs 18.59 crore in November. Otherwise, the average monthly collection is in the range of Rs 15 crore," they said.

When asked, Pedgaonkar said the last month's LBT collection was Rs 14.65 crore. "It is true that AMC's tax collection is in the range of Rs 15 crore but we are now focusing on assessment of bills and taking various measures to increase collection. Municipal commissioner Harshdeep Kamble has also asked us to generate Rs 20 crore a month on account of LBT," he added.

Pedgaonkar also said that the trading activities in the current season were quite satisfactory. "These days, the dealers are importing significant quantity of goods and it seems that markets are on the upbeat. We hope to receive a good amount on account of LBT."

During the previous festival season, the AMC had generated Rs 17.8 crore. "This time we have already collected Rs 18.59 crore and a few more days are remaining. The dealers have to pay the LBT before the 20th of every month but they make the payment even 10 to 12 days after that," he explained.

Since the LBT is the main source of revenue for the municipal body, the administration is implementing various initiatives to improve the tax collection. It has recently conducted a tax recovery drive against liquor dealers, hotels and transporters.

Property tax dues: Wipro may face legal action from Bangalore local body

Saturday, 30 November 2013 10:21 administrator

Business Line 30.11.2013

Property tax dues: Wipro may face legal action from Bangalore local body

Bangalore, Nov. 30: Wipro has been threatened with legal action by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for allegedly not paying Rs 16.47 crore as property tax.

Despite repeated tax notices, Wipro did not pay the tax notices and hence the BBMP authorities decided to slap a case against the company.

Rs 16.47-crore due

If Wipro does not pay up the dues, which as per BBMP officials amount to Rs 16.47 crore in taxes and other dues, it faces legal action, including seizure of movable property.

Wipro vehemently denied this. In a statement, a Wipro spokesperson in a statement said: “On November 27, officials and corporators of BBMP arrived at our Sarjapur campus without prior notice and resorted to high-handedness and arm twisting tactics for nearly seven hours.”

It was an illegal attempt to collect money against a notice for collection of property tax, which is not final and has been responded to by pointing out errors in data points and assumptions, the statement added.

This is the second time in the past 11 months that BBMP has resorted to intimidatory tactics to collect money against unsubstantiated notice of payment, Wipro officials said. These notices have been superseded with multiple fresh notices by BBMP itself and the latest one is yet to be adjudicated. Wipro is exploring all legal options at its disposal to seek redressal, the statement said.

The dispute has to do with its corporate headquarters at Doddakannelli village. According to the BBMP, Wipro owes these taxes calculated at Rs 20 per sq ft which was due for 2008-2012.

Matters first came to light during the January this year when Wipro was announcing its third quarter results. BBMP even hired drum beaters who resort to these measures in a bid to embarrass tax defaulters.

Civic body aims to net Rs. 1,250 cr. property tax

Saturday, 30 November 2013 06:03 administrator

The Hindu 30.11.2013

Civic body aims to net Rs. 1,250 cr. property tax

Special Correspondent

By scrupulously following ‘tax mantra’ which includes ‘no increase in tax but better compliance’, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is confident of collecting Rs.1,250 crore as property tax this financial year, GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar said here on Friday.

Inaugurating an orientation training programme for the revenue staff of the civic body, Mr. Kumar said the Standing Committee took a decision to give incentives to the revenue staff based on their performance.

The incentive structure ensures two months basic pay as incentive to those collecting 50 per cent more than last year and 15 days basic pay for those collecting 20 per cent more.

PCMC doubles property tax for illegal buildings

Thursday, 28 November 2013 09:07 administrator

The Times of India 28.11.2013

PCMC doubles property tax for illegal buildings

PUNE: Owners of unauthorized constructions in Pimpri Chinchwad will have to pay double the property tax. The civic body will soon start issuing tax bills for 2012-13 and for 2013-14.

The move has come following a state government decision to allow collection of additional property tax from owners of unauthorized constructions.

The PCMC's tax collection department has enlisted over 43,300 such constructions, to whom revised tax bills will be issued. Municipal corporation's rules allow such an imposition.

PCMC assistant commissioner Bhanudas Gaikwad, who heads the tax collection department, said the civic body received the directives from the state government on November 22. According to the directives, until an unauthorized construction is regularized, the owner concerned will have to pay double the amount of the property tax, he said.

In November 2010, the standing committee and the general body had rejected the civic administration's proposal for collecting additional property tax.

However, the state government later cancelled the decision and directed the PCMC to collect property tax as per the provisions in the municipal rules.

The civic body hopes to collect Rs 317 crore from property tax along with an additional sum of Rs 84 crore, from owners of unauthorized constructions.

The PCMC has recently started a survey of properties in the area. Besides verifying whether the property owners are paying tax, the civic body is also checking if the household drainage lines are connected to the underground drainage system. The civic body has already completed about 70 % of the survey.