Taxation

Record property tax collection by Palike

Wednesday, 10 July 2013 11:04 administrator

Deccan Herald 10.07.2013

Record property tax collection by Palike

For the first time in eight years, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has collected a whopping Rs 830 crore property tax within the first three months of a financial year, largely due to the five-percent rebate announced by the Congress government.

Buoyed by the landslide victory in the Assembly elections in May, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that the five-percent discount would be extended till the end of June. Usually, the discount is offered only in April — the beginning of new financial year — so that the BBMP can implement its budgetary provisions.

The bonanza by the Congress prompted more property owners to pay the tax, supporting the Palike’s ailing finances. The BBMP collected Rs 563 crore until May 31 but property owners rushed to pay the tax in June to avail of the discount. Thus, the Palike laughed all the way to the bank with Rs 267 crore property tax collected in June.

“It was possible because of the extension in the period of discount. Such a revenue collection never happened before,” the BBMP Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), I Ramakanth, said.

In 2012, Ramakanth added, only Rs 670 crore could be collected by July 1. This year, however, nine lakh property owners, have paid tax. There are 13 lakh properties in the tax net.

Daunting task

The encouraging collection notwithstanding, the BBMP has a daunting task ahead. It has to collect Rs 1,800 crore property tax in the current financial year.

Last year, the Palike could collect only Rs 1,358 crore, largely because of its drum-beating drive before the offices of major tax defaulters.

As per Palike records, there are 14,14,450 properties in the tax net — an increase of 59,765 in the last one year.

A source in the Palike said that the Geo Information System (GIS) based property mapping shows about 16.8 lakh properties in the City.

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation eyes taxpayers

Wednesday, 10 July 2013 10:50 administrator

Deccan Chronicle 10.07.2013

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation eyes taxpayers

Vijayawada: Faced with a cash crunch, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is planning to improve its financial position by streamlining revenue and tax collections in the city.

It may be noted that the VMC officials were successful in collecting vacant land tax to a tune of Rs 7.3 crore during 2012-13, collecting nearly Rs 64 crore during 2012-13 against the target of Rs 71 crore.

Municipal commissioner G.S. Panda Das has been taking the initiative to improve the financial position of the corporation by streamlining the tax collections. As part of these efforts, in a review meeting organised at circle III here on Tuesday, Das warned the officials of disciplinary action, if they fail to collect taxes pending for the past several years.

He asked the officials to initiate steps to collect taxes from those who approached courts. The commissioner also asked the revenue inspectors to improve tax collections during 2012-13 and concentrate on collecting dues. He told officials to seal the shopping complexes, if the owners fail to pay the taxes.

Das directed the officials to discontinue the services being provided by the VMC if the people fail to pay the taxes. He also asked the officials to upload information of property taxes dues on the VMC’s website.

It may be noted that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy had recently agreed to sanction Rs 50 crore to the VMC. These funds and the money collected through taxes would go a long way in improving the financial condition of the corporation.

Old is gold for BBMP on revenue collection

Wednesday, 10 July 2013 05:05 administrator

The Hindu 10.07.2013

Old is gold for BBMP on revenue collection

Chitra V. Ramani

Demand-Collection-Balance mechanism has been mooted to improve property tax collections

Property tax is the major source of revenue for the cash-strapped Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). While the revenue from property tax has been increasing over the past few years, the civic body is hoping to strengthen it further by re-introducing the Demand-Collection-Balance (DCB) system.

This decision was taken by BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan soon after the misappropriation of tax collected by three tax inspectors came to light.

A senior BBMP official told The Hindu that the DCB system was discontinued in 2002. “It is not clear why it was discontinued. However, it will soon be reintroduced and made mandatory at the tax inspector level.”

The city’s 16 lakh properties have been mapped by Geographical Information System (GIS).

However, many are not yet covered under the tax net. By reintroducing the DCB system, each tax inspector will have a record of number of properties under his/her jurisdiction (approximately 2,500) and those that have paid tax.

“With the DCB system in place, the tax inspector will know exactly what is due from the properties and will be able to raise a demand by issuing notices to defaulters. The system will make accounting easy and transparent,” the official said.

At present, the BBMP has been estimating the tax due. If all the properties that have been mapped by GIS are brought onto the DCB system, the civic body will be able to scientifically determine the tax that can be collected from these properties, besides covering more (properties) under the tax net.

The BBMP also hopes to assess the performance of the tax inspectors by monitoring the tax collections in their jurisdictions, the official said.

Meanwhile, the BBMP is working towards simplifying the payment mechanism for property tax and trade licences by making them more citizen-friendly.

Payment of tax may soon be possible through some nationalised banks, the official added.

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