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Taxation

2L illegal buildings deprive PCMC of Rs 150crore revenue

Tuesday, 30 July 2013 00:00 administrator
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The Times of India           30.07.2013

2L illegal buildings deprive PCMC of Rs 150crore revenue

PUNE: An estimated 2 lakh properties in Pimpri Chinchwad haven't registered with the civic body here, depriving it of a Rs 150 crore revenue, which it would earn through property tax. This figure has emerged partly from the 2011 census and also the civic corporation's garbage collection data.

At the Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporation's general body meeting last week, municipal commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi said that as per a survey conducted by waste pickers, there are 5.12 lakh properties in the municipal limits (that they collected garbage from). "So definitely there has been an increase in number of properties in the municipal limits and steps need to be taken to register them for increasing the civic body's income through property tax

," he said. The additional revenue would come as a much-needed relief to the municipal corporation which is facing a shortfall in revenue in the first three months of the current financial year.

Replying to queries raised by corporators at the general body meeting, Pardeshi said there are 4.2 lakh families and 3.65 lakh registered properties as per the 2011 census. The average rise in the number of residential properties is around 6 to 7%. "So we expect that the number of properties has increased by around 70,000 in the past two-and-a-half years. Similarly, there is an increase of 10 % in commercial properties. The total number of properties to have increased to around 5.5 lakh,'' he said.

Currently, PCMC has 3.65 lakh registered properties. It earned Rs 300 crore through property tax in 2012-13. This income could increase to Rs 450 crore, if new properties are registered, he said. He emphasized the need to increase property tax collection that would in turn beef up overall revenue of the civic bodythat has been grappling with shortage of funds. "The largest contributor to the income of the civic body was octroi which was abolished by the state government in April this year and replaced by local body tax (LBT). In the first three months, the corporation earned Rs 220 crore through LBT and escort fee. In the corresponding period last year, when octroi was being collected, the corporation earned Rs 293 crore. Thus, PCMC has suffered a revenue shortfall of Rs 73 crore in the first three months.''

Explaining the measures to boost property tax collection, Pardeshi said, "The civic body will conduct a survey of all the properties in the municipal limits and get them registered with the civic property tax department. It hopes to start conducting the survey in September and complete it in three months."

 

AMC falls short of 250-crore local body tax target

Tuesday, 30 July 2013 00:00 administrator
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The Times of India           30.07.2013

AMC falls short of 250-crore local body tax target

AURANGABAD: Amid steep opposition to the local body tax (LBT) in various cities of the state, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Monday posted an LBT collection of Rs 45.99 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal against a target of Rs 250 crore.

Taking note of the low collection rate, standing committee chairman Narayan Kuche on Monday urged municipal commissioner Gokul Maware to take stern action against the officers responsible. He said the drop in the main revenue generation source of the civic body would negatively affect the city's growth. He urged Maware to accelerate the LBT process.

Kuche alleged that inefficiency in the LBT department was mainly responsible for the poor show. "In the last two fiscals, the city had set an ideal example of LBT which the other cities were trying to follow," he said.

However, Mahavir Patni, LBT in charge of the AMC, said that the figure was not very discouraging. "We are already in receipt of Rs 45.99 crore in the first quarter, which is normally not seen as a major contributor. We hope to post satisfactory level in the following quarters," he said.

In addition to this, Patni said that in 2011-13 the LBT collection was at Rs 162 crore which surged in 2012-13 to Rs 180 crore. "This year, the administration had set a target of Rs 200 crore for LBT collection but the general body had increased it to Rs 250 crore," he said.

Justifying the AMC's efforts, Patni further said that most of the traders were on the back foot in the first quarter due to the recent drought situation in the region. "The sale of four-wheelers, two-wheelers, domestic appliances, etc is passing through a bad phase. This is bringing down the business volume in the city," he said.

 

AMC speeds up property tax collection drive

Saturday, 27 July 2013 11:13 administrator
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The Times of India               27.07.2013

AMC speeds up property tax collection drive

AURANGABAD: Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) authorities on Friday decided on stern action against property tax defaulters and directed ward officers to seal at least 180 properties of defaulters every day in the city. In the first quarter of the current financial year, the civic body collected less than Rs 18 crore as property tax against its annual target of Rs 100 crore.

Shivaji Zanzan, in-charge of the tax collection department in the AMC, said that more than 60 per cent of commercial property owners had not fulfilled their tax liabilities. "Some of them have not paid the tax for more than two or three years, while some have skipped the due date of the current property tax. We will take action against all of them," he said.

Ward F officer V D Rathod said the administration has set a target of sealing 30 defaulting commercial properties every day in each of the six municipal wards in the municipal limit. Rathod said the sealing action would begin with immediate effect.

The department had generated tax demand notices for 1,87,223 property owners in the city in May-June 2013. Of these, about 45,000 are commercial properties.

A senior officer in AMC said that all the tax-payers had to clear their tax liabilities in the first quarter of the financial year. "The municipal corporation is now taking strong action only against commercial property owners. This is a major source of revenue generation for us."

 
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