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Taxation

PMC mops up 40 cr from LBT

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 12:06 administrator
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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.

 

Rs 3.32cr LBT collected in a day

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 12:02 administrator
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The Times of India                21.04.2013

Rs 3.32cr LBT collected in a day

NAGPUR: The fear of penalty finally made the traders cough up the LBT dues. The day's collections for Monday which was also the last date for paying the tax without fine stood at Rs 3.32 crore. This is double than the average daily collection during Octroi regime. However, so far the NMC severely lags behind in collection as compared to the older tax system.

Till date it has collected LBT to the tune of Rs 8.6 crore taking it to over Rs 9 crore by adding the entry tax which is levied on trucks passing through the city but not unloading the goods here. Taking the additional 1% stamp duty payable under the LBT system, the total mop up as on date stands at Rs 14 crore. This is the tax which was accrued during the last month and payable in May. The octroi collected during April last year stood at over Rs 35 crore. NMC sources say currently the main contributors towards LBT are petroleum companies, cement and liquor traders. The low collection may be due to the indefinite strike.

 

Pune Municipal Corporation gets Rs 36 crore LBT for April

Tuesday, 21 May 2013 10:39 administrator
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The Indian Express              21.05.2013

Pune Municipal Corporation gets Rs 36 crore LBT for April

In spite of most traders not having paid the Local Body Tax (LBT), Pune Municipal Corporation that has been facing fierce opposition for its implementation in its civic jurisdiction managed to collect Rs 36 crore for the month of April. On the last day of payment for April, around 2,000 traders paid Rs 25 crore to avoid legal action against them.

"The collection of LBT for month of April began from May 1. It was initially slow due to the opposition from the traders. On the last day, however, around 2,000 traders deposited Rs 25 crore to avoid legal action. This, despite SMSes being circulated among traders by their union leaders, asking them not to pay LBT," said Vilas Kanade, who is in-charge of PMC's LBT department.

He also said that the number of traders who have registered with the PMC under the new tax regime has also gone up to 64,000. "PMC has carried out a survey of the entire city to locate traders. We will compare the list with those who have registered for LBT. Notices will be issued to those whose names do not figure in the list of registered traders," Kanade said, adding, that there were about 11,000 traders who are yet to be registered.

PMC will also charge an interest of two per cent per month on those who fail to deposit LBT for April, he added.

Kanade pointed out that at the meeting held between the state government and the traders, the former had agreed to most of their demands. "The traders would possibly call off the strike on Tuesday," he had said earlier in the day, quickly adding, that the decision depends on the traders' meeting with the chief minister in Mumbai.

Among their several demands, one of the most important was changing a perimeter of the tax by pushing the lower limit of traders' earning from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. That is, traders earning Rs 5 lakh and above need to register under LBT. They had also sought extension of the deadline for registration under LBT and payment of the tax to June 20.

Earlier, the traders had gone on an indefinite strike, demanding suspension of LBT that was introduced in place of octroi, which was abolished by the government in March. With a collection of Rs 1,400 crore a month, octroi had become the largest source of revenue for the civic body.

 
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