The Times of India                21.04.2013

PMC mops up 40 cr from LBT

PUNE: The Pune municipal corporation has raised Rs 40 crore from Local Body Tax (LBT) till Monday, which was the last day for paying the tax. Of the total amount, Rs 25 crore was collected on Monday, indicating a last minute rush of traders who had so far defied the new tax levy.

The administration has decided to initiate action against defaulters from Tuesday. "Two per cent penalty will be levied on traders who have failed to pay the tax by May 20," said Vilas Kanade, in-charge of the local body tax cell.

He said that the department will check the transactions of defaulters and see if they have imported goods. "In case, they are found to have imported goods, then they will be directed to pay the fine."

The industries, liquor shops and oil companies are among those who have paid the tax, he said. Nearly 4,500 traders have made the payment since May 1. Payments have been made through demand drafts, cash, cheque and internet banking.

Octroi, a key revenue source for the civic body, was replaced with LBT on April 1. Octroi would generate a daily revenue of Rs 3 crore and up to Rs 100 crore a month.

In 2012-13, the civic body had registered revenue of Rs 1,200 crore from octroi. Officials working in the LBT department of the PMC said awareness about LBT was increasing, but the response from the traders was still poor.

The traders are opposing the implementation of LBT as they believe it would hamper their business. The traders' associations have been on an indefinite strike since May 8.

The PMC was facing financial crunch since implementation of LBT, but the traders have come forward in large numbers to pay the tax in last three working days. PMC had received payments worth Rs 4 crore on Friday, Rs 11 crore on Saturday and Rs 25 crore on Monday.

Over 63,000 traders in the city had registered for LBT till April 30, the deadline set by the civic body. Others, who have not registered for the LBT yet, may either have to pay five times the tax amount or stop their business activity.