The Hindu        30.03.2011

Property tax collection sluggish

With only two days left for the financial year to end, property tax payment to the municipal corporation continues to be sluggish with only Rs. 66 crore of the Rs.174 crore demand, including arrears, being realised by Tuesday. The demand for the current year is Rs.134 crore of which around Rs.61 crore has been paid. Either way, it has not reached the 50 per cent mark. In 2009-10, the payments had been quite encouraging with Rs.61 crore of the Rs.76 crore demand paid.

Around 13,000 revision petitions (RPs) filed with the corporation still remain to be processed and finalised. So far 40,000 petitions have been processed, the details placed online and informed to the assessees, say officials.

Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Sanyasi Naidu said the corporation intended to complete the process by April-end. For a long time during the current financial year, there had been a dilemma over the roll back of the increased tax, though finally it did not materialise.

According to Additional Commissioner (Finance) P. Purnachandra Rao, census and election to the legislative council which had to be completed in a time-bound manner took precedence.

Besides, in view of criticism that the revision petitions are being processed in the offices, physical verification has been taken up and it is a time-taking process.

On the distraint notices, the officials said they were being issued only to chronic defaulters and not to all the tax-payers.

The daily collection over the last few days is around Rs.1.5 crore. On Monday it was Rs. 2.4 crore and Tuesday about Rs.3 crore.

Last year the government had extended the interest waiver until April 30. It is felt that a similar step will boost revenue collection this time too.