The Hindu             05.11.2013

New property tax norms offer rebate for early birds

Special Correspondent

Penal interest for the tax payable for the second half year will be levied after December 31

With interest waiver on property tax becoming an annual feature, the government has brought in new regulations that appear to be pre-emptive.

It provides incentives for early payment of property tax for the entire year and penalties after the end of the first quarter and the third quarter.

Till now penal interest is levied after the end of the first half year and for the second half penal interest is not collected until after March 31.

The State government also, in spite of assertions to the contrary, announces waiver of penal interest almost every year.

The new order issued by Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration in August lays down that for payment of property tax for the entire year by April 30, a 5 per cent rebate will be given.

After June 30, a 2 per cent simple interest will be levied on the tax payable.

The 2 per cent penal interest will also be imposed for payment made after December 31.

During the current financial year penal interest for the tax payable for the second half year will be levied after December 31, a GVMC official said.

Neither the 5 per cent rebate nor interest after June 30 will be applicable for this year.

Tax arrears

With the two-month strike in support of integrated State lasting nearly two months, GVMC has run into huge arrears of property tax payments for the first half year. Against a collectible demand of Rs.88 crore, so far only Rs.37 crore has been realised. With another Rs.88 crore for the second half, the total now comes to Rs.139 crore.

“We have asked the Revenue staff to come out with details of tax collectible rather than later giving one reason or the other for not realising it,” Municipal Commissioner M. V. Satyanarayana told reporters here on Monday. The idea is whatever is the tax quantum declared as collectible should be realised by the end of the year and should not fall short of it. Once the details are available, new demand notices will be issued from November 15, he said.

The Times of India             04.11.2013

Pune Municipal Corporation recovers Rs 185-crore water tax dues

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has recovered pending water tax worth around Rs 185 crore. The money has been recovered over the last three years from those using metered water.

In a written reply given to the query of an elected member, the civic administration has claimed that the meters include both residential and commercial ones. There are 22,000 residential meters, and around 15,000 non-residential meters installed in PMC limits.

According to figures with the water department, it has recorded a constant increase in recovery of water charges from users opting for the metered supply. The water charges recovered in 2010-11 were Rs 54.52 crore, in 2011-12 the figure stood at Rs 61.83 crore and in 2012-13, it stands at Rs 67.87 crore.

The administration has undertaken a project to install water meters in all 7.5 lakh properties in the city, given that the Union government is pressing for metered water supply in all cities that receive funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to ensure that civic bodies recover water supply costs.

The civic body has planned a pilot project of metered supply of water in five areas - Sahakarnagar, Rajas Society in Katraj, Vimannagar, Bhavani Peth and Nagpur Chawl. Nearly 6,000 meters will be installed in these areas.

Installing water meters could help determine loss due to leakage or other reasons and will help calculate water tax based on consumption, develop an equitable water distribution system and offer the same water pressure in different parts of the city.

A few years back, the PMC had tried to introduce metered water supply, claiming that it would help calculate the water tax accurately. However, the PMC general body scrapped the system for domestic users and has been billing them on the basis of the annual ratable value of their properties. Domestic users had complained of faulty meters and inflated billing, which had resulted in the accumulation of water tax dues worth crores of rupees.