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Taxation

Property tax offices to be open on holidays

Monday, 06 May 2013 11:18 administrator
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The Times of India            06.05.2013

Property tax offices to be open on holidays

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will keep the property tax payment facility open during weekends this month. The move will help citizens to avail of the tax discount scheme, which is open to property owners who pay their taxes before May 31.

The civic body has offered a 10% discount on tax of Rs 25,000 or less and a 5% discount on the amount above Rs 25,001.

"The tax payments will be accepted at the collection centres in ward offices and at the citizen facilitation centre in the PMC's head office in Shivajinagar," a press release issued by the civic body said.

Citizens will be able to make payments between 10 am and 2 pm on holidays.

Property tax is one of the main sources of revenue for the civic body. The department handles the billing and collection of property tax on residential, commercial, plots and other types of properties - held privately or by the government (state and central) - within the civic limits.

Property tax is charged on immovable property, such as land, buildings and any permanent improvement. It may also include building tax plus service taxes such as street tax and conservancy or scavenging tax. The tax is collected either half yearly or annually. There are around 7 lakh residential properties and 75,000 non-residential properties and around 24,000 open plots in the city.

The civic body had decided to involve women's self-help groups (SHGs) and NGOs in distribution of property tax bills. It helped increase the collection by three times this year, so far, as compared to the previous fiscal.

"The civic administration wants to improve bill distribution so that more citizens pay them on time. So, a target-based system for bill distribution has been set up wherein the NGOs and women self-help groups have been engaged to carry out the work," Hemant Nikam, the head of PMC's property tax department, had said.

The civic administration will charge a penalty of 2 per cent per month from citizens who pay property tax after May 31.

The collection of the property tax department has gathered more significance this year as the PMC has done away with the octroi tax, which was one of the key revenue sources for the PMC.

The administration has collected nearly Rs 115 crore from property tax in the first month of the new fiscal, i.e. April 2013. On an average, it collects around Rs 600 crore per annum from the tax, which is an average of Rs 50 crore per month.

The property tax department has been embroiled in controversy over the billing distribution system. Many property users have complaints about not getting the property tax bills on time. Many property owners claim that they could not get the benefit of the discount scheme as they have not got their property bills on time.

With an aim to overcome this problem, the PMC has taken a decision to involve women's self-help groups (SHGs) and NGOs in distribution of property tax bills.

Last Updated on Monday, 06 May 2013 11:27
 

Property tax to be paid in two phases now

Saturday, 04 May 2013 11:30 administrator
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The Times of India                04.05.2013

Property tax to be paid in two phases now

NAGPUR: Those paying property tax will have to make the payments in two phases from the current financial year. This is part of Nagpur Municipal Corporation's (NMC) new tax system according to the provisions of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations (MMC) Act. Late payment of tax will attract 2% interest per month from July 1 itself.

Chairman of standing committee Avinash Thakre said the process to issue demand notes for property tax has been kicked off. "Demand notes will be prepared and distributed zone-wise from this year onwards between May 15 and 31. Rebate system will continue for taxpayers paying the tax before the due date," he said.

Additional deputy municipal commissionerRavindra Kumbhare has prepared the new demand note format. "Two columns will be printed in the demand note, mentioning the amount to paid in first and second phase separately. The due date of first phase will be June 30 and that for second phase will be December 31. Penalty of 2% interest per month will start from July 1 onwards and for second phase from January 1," he said.

The property tax has always been an annual affair till date. NMC used to issue demand notes after December, and they used to be payable till March 31.

Thakre also said the process to reassess 57,000 properties getting demand notes up to Rs 200 per year has started. "Re-assessment of around 3,000 properties has been completed with around 300 properties under suspicion of irregularity. Majority of the remaining 2,700 properties are in slum areas or belong to NMC itself. Re-assessment of remaining 54,000 properties will be completed by May 15," he said.

Meanwhile, the standing committee held a meeting on Friday. It approved additional expense of Rs 63.26 lakh for proposed electricity feeder for Kanhan water treatment plant. Thakre said the estimated cost increased following the bidding. "First, the work was costing Rs 3.53 crore. Now, the total expense on feeder and other electricity related works is coming to Rs 7.15 crore," he said.

The standing committee also approved appointment of a committee to compile data on materials stored at NMC godown since 1997. The material has been seized during various encroachment drives. The committee will compile data and fix prices for auction. Thakre said the administration has also been asked to collect scrap from health and other departments.
Last Updated on Saturday, 04 May 2013 11:33
 

LBT effect: Dull start to new fiscal for PMC

Saturday, 04 May 2013 11:25 administrator
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The Times of India                04.05.2013

LBT effect: Dull start to new fiscal for PMC

PUNE: The switch from octroi to local body tax in the first month of the new fiscal has cost the civic body dear. With zero collections from local body tax so far, the municipal corporation is staring at a possible revenue crunch until the time the revenue from the new tax starts flowing into its coffers.
 
Revenue from octroi accounted for 40% of the Pune Municipal Corportation's total revenue, with the monthly collection from this tax pegged at Rs 100 crore. The PMC had earned over Rs 1,300 crore from octroi in the last fiscal. The other two critical income sources are property tax and building permission, each contributing Rs 50 crore to the civic body.

With the first collection from LBT expected only by May-end, the corporation is yet to see any income from the new tax. "Since there is no income from octroi and not even LBT in the month of April, the financial position of PMC has become weak. PMC has to manage things with nearly half the funds than what the administration earlier used to get every month. So, no new major proposals are going through and PMC is concentrating only on key projects. The situation is likely to remain the same in the month of May too, as the first income from LBT will come at the end of the month. The PMC will face a likely shortage of Rs 200 crore until it starts getting funds from LBT," said an official.

Officials said that there were some fixed expenditures that the administration has to deal with every month such as salaries, pension, maintenance and payments of ongoing key projects. So the civic body has to now reduce expenditure on projects that are not priority such as ward level works, so as to manage with the available funds.

The property tax department's income provided some relief in the month of April with many property owners paying their bills in advance to avail of the 10% tax rebate for payments made before May 31. This has helped deal with the funds crunch to some extent, said officials.

When contacted, Usha Kalamkar, head of PMC's accounts department admitted the fund-crunch. "Yes, currently there is loss of revenue, but it is a temporary phase. The situation is not worrisome and our financial position is strong. We are hoping for good revenue from LBT so we can also hope to recover the current loss in future," she said.

Last Updated on Saturday, 04 May 2013 11:30
 
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