The Hindu 15.02.2013
BBMP collects Rs. 6 cr. property tax dues
With Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials leaving no stone unturned to recover the property tax dues from defaulters, members of the Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance showed they are not left behind.
On Wednesday, led by committee chairperson K.A. Munindra Kumar, the commitee inspected commercial complexes and malls in Mahadevapura zone to recover tax dues. The members, accompanied by Mahadevapura’s joint commissioner S.N. Gangadharaiah, were able to recover Rs. 5 crore dues.
According to Mr. Kumar, the committee just chose three commercial establishments.
At Tesco, the committee found that the establishment owed the BBMP nearly Rs. 10 crore. On insistence, Tesco immediately cleared 40 per cent of the dues by paying Rs. 4 crore.
Pheonix Mall owes the BBMP Rs. 3.5 crore. The committee directed the officials to issue notice to the developers of the mall and directed them (developers) to pay up dues within a week’s time.
With the news of the “surprise inspections” spreading, Wipro voluntarily paid Rs. 1 crore of the dues it owes to the BBMP. The committee later went to Brindavan Tech Park, which has been rented out to 13 companies.
They found that the tech park owed the BBMP Rs. 23 crore.
The officials of the tech park claimed that the owner was not in town and assured the committee members and BBMP officials of getting in touch with him and clearing the dues soon.
Mr. Kumar said that the BBMP had the potential of collecting nearly Rs. 5,000 crore as property tax.
He conceded that some property owners were misusing the Self Assessment Tax by failing to correctly declare the built up area, if it had been rented out.
