The Times of India           24.12.2013

Penalty for defaulters of property tax: Nashik Municipal Corporation

NASHIK: The civic body has decided to penalize property owners who fail to pay their taxes by December 31.

The owners will be fined 2% of their monthly property tax and the amount will be included in the next bill.

The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) would earlier send property tax bills for the entire financial year. But it has introduced a half-yearly system this fiscal year - 2013-14. The bills for both the periods - April 1 to September 30 and October 1 to March 31 - were sent to property owners this year.

The civic body has made it mandatory for the bill payments to be made by December 31. The 2% fine on the total property tax is applicable thereafter.

A civic official told TOI, "The decision to impose the fine has been taken with an aim to increase the NMC's revenue through property taxes. The civic body is already facing the heat from the decline in revenue through the local body tax. The half yearly bills have been introduced to reduce the burden on property owners of paying the entire tax amount at one time."

He further said, "We have tied up with a private bank for the property tax collection. The owners can pay their taxes at any branch of the bank in the city." The NMC has earned Rs 40.26 crore in the first half (April-September) of the current fiscal year, against the Rs 25.69 crore it collected in the corresponding period last fiscal.