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Taxation

Water tax hike in the pipeline

Friday, 26 April 2013 07:27 administrator
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The Hindu                26.04.2013

Water tax hike in the pipeline

S.Ganesan

Proposal on revising water tax to be put before Corporation Council again

An increase in water tax for city residents appears imminent as the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation Council is set to take up a proposal on this for discussion next week.

The council had deferred a decision on the proposal in February in the wake of a strong opposition from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and with some ruling AIADMK councillors expressing reservations.

The DMK, while opposing the move, had contended that any increase could be considered only after the new drinking water augmentation scheme, currently under execution, was commissioned.

The corporation has proposed to increase the minimum water charge for domestic connections from Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 a month. The deposit for new connection is also proposed to be increased from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000.

A sharp increase has been proposed for non-domestic use, industries, and other establishments.

For non-domestic use (for purposes other than drinking), the minimum water charge will be Rs. 600 a month and the deposit is to be increased from Rs.6,000 to Rs.10,000.

For industries, the minimum levy will be Rs.1,000 a month.

The corporation has proposed to increase the charge for supply of water through tankers under different slabs based on the distance covered.

In April 2008, the council had approved a revision in water tax in a phased manner in view of the implementation of the new scheme.

Despite the opposition in the council, the increase appears inevitable given the resource crunch faced by the civic body.

Officials have been pointing out that the corporation is in urgent need to raise the resources to repay the loan taken for the Rs. 221.42-crore drinking water supply augmentation scheme.

The corporation has been justifying the move by pointing to a huge gap between the expenditure incurred on water supply and the revenue realised through water charge.

The civic body spends Rs. 28.97 crore annually on drinking water supply and gets just Rs.19.97 crore from water tax.

The corporation has to service the debt raised for implementing the new drinking water scheme taken up with loans to the extent of Rs. 111.25 crore raised through Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited.

Besides, the Third State Finance Commission has recommended revision of water charge once in three years and the State audit has pointed out that this recommendation should be implemented.

There are indications that although the opposition DMK is expected to strongly resist any increase in water charge, the proposal is expected to go through paving the way for the implementation of the new water charge in the city with effect from April 1.

 

E-payment mandatory for tax

Friday, 26 April 2013 00:00 administrator
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The New Indian Express                 26.04.2013

E-payment mandatory for tax

E-payment has been made mandatory for traders and industries paying a tax of Rs 1 lakh and above by the department of  Commercial Tax from May 1.

In a statemAent, L Kumar, Commissioner of Commercial Tax, said that this has been done to reduce the number of days taken for realisation of cheques and demand drafts. Special arrangements have been made with five banks, namely, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank, IDBI and SBI, for opening zero balance account.

 

Soon, pay your property tax at a ward office

Friday, 12 April 2013 05:47 administrator
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The Hindu                  12.04.2013

Soon, pay your property tax at a ward office

Hopes vestedLast year, the Chennai Corporation had facilitated remittance of the tax at bank counters. However, not many assessees have opted to use the service —Photo: S.R. Raghunathan
Hopes vestedLast year, the Chennai Corporation had facilitated remittance of the tax at bank counters. However, not many assessees have opted to use the service —Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

Counters to be set up; dedicated facilities expected to be popular mode of payment.

Residents may soon be able to remit property tax in all 200 wards.

Zonal-level officials have been directed by the civic body to identify structures suitable for setting up of counters for remitting property tax.

Enumeration of the existing facilities in all ward offices will begin next week.

The dedicated property tax collection facilities in each ward office may facilitate hassle-free payment of the tax for most of the 10.71 assessees in the city. Assessees opting for online and electronic clearing service mode of property tax get receipts after a delay. They can get a receipt immediately only at the counter and through hand-held billing machines. So most residents opt for payment at counters and inadequate number of counters remains a challenge to the collection of property tax.

Residents also have the option of approaching tax collectors, who can access details like property and tax details with the help of the hand-held machines instead of looking into ledgers. The machine accepts credit/debit cards, demand drafts and cheques and will give receipts to assessees immediately.

However, as the tax collectors or assessors do not have a dedicated room or furniture to be seated in a certain place, most residents find it difficult to avail themselves of their services.

The proposal to have a counter in all the ward offices is expected to help residents remit the tax at their own convenience.

The civic body had earlier set a target of setting up 2,000 bank counters in the city for walk-in payment of property tax to improve tax collection. But the counters have not proved popular due to server problems experienced by some of the banks.

This year, residents in all fifteen zones of the city were permitted to pay their property tax online. Yet, fewer people use the system. The online mode of payment is currently being used by around 10 per cent of the assessees, including a few non-resident Indians who own properties in the city.

The counters at ward offices are expected to be the most popular mode of property tax collection in the city, officials said. After the opening of counters in the offices, the number of assessees who fail to pay the tax on time is likely to reduce considerably. 

 
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