Indian Express 4.11.2009
Tax defaulters cold shoulder MCD amnesty, only Rs 70 cr in basket
Civic body extends scheme to Dec 31, expects to exceed last year’s collection
The ambitious Amnesty Scheme launched by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for property tax defaulters seems to have fallen flat as merely 27,000 property owners in the Capital have availed it.
The civic body collected merely Rs 70 crore under the scheme, which was launched in September and aimed at bringing all defaulters under its tax net.
According to the MCD estimate, there are an estimated 30 lakh registered properties in the Capital and only nine lakh people pay property tax.
The Corporation has now extended the scheme till December 31, surpassing its earlier deadline of October 31.
The MCD, meanwhile, has collected Rs 480 crore as the property tax for the current fiscal year till now. The collection during the corresponding period (till October 31) last year was Rs 388 crore.
The civic body, however, is “satisfied” with the collection so far. “We have managed to collect this amount despite the ongoing recession in the economy. The number of taxpayers have also increased to 8,02,223 from last year’s 7,48,621,” said R K Singhal, Chairperson, MCD standing committee.
The Opposition leaders of the MCD, however, say that since the new unit area method for property tax was introduced in 2004, the MCD has failed to meet the target by a huge margin year after year.
Past records show that despite making a promising start in the financial year 2008-09, the MCD collected Rs 1,064 crore as against its targeted Rs 1,463 crore. Similarly, in 2006-07, the civic body managed to garner just Rs 750 crore, which is even less than the tax collected in the previous fiscal (Rs 794 crore).
“We are still to receive some payments from various government departments, and some residents are still coming to us to make payments. Similarly, some cases that are in arbitration would also get finalised soon, increasing our collections. We will improve our last year’s revenue collections this time,” Singhal said. “More people will pay pending dues as the amnesty scheme has been extended.”
Under the Scheme, 30 per cent of the penalty amount will be waived for the defaulters who pay the pending dues before December 31. Besides, the Corporation will also waive off the interest charged on the pending amount. Those who fail to pay the tax by then will be penalized — imprisonment upto seven years or a fine upto Rs 10 lakh.
The Survey of India is currently conducting a door-to-door survey for the MCD to locate the exact number of property tax defaulters in the Capital.
