The Indian Express   27.08.2012

Hit by losses, civic body to assess tax on govt buildings on its own

With officer not being appointed, tax not assessed since 2005

With no assessment of tax for properties of the Central and state governments since 2005, the loss of revenue in the process has forced the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to take matters in its own hands. Usually, it is the special officer appointed by the state government who assesses such properties, but now, the PMC will do the needful.

In a proposal tabled before the Legal Committee, the PMC administration said the civic body suffered losses due to the delay in assessment of government-owned properties since 2005. Till 2005, there were 276 state government and 286 Central government buildings in the civic tax ambit. However, despite new buildings being constructed after that, the same is not reflected in the figures, the proposal states.

As per the BPMC Act, appointment of a special officer other than PMC staff is done for five years. The PMC collects general tax and service charges from the government buildings.

“The PMC had sought the state government’s permission for the appointment of a retired officer of the town planning department to assess government properties in its jurisdiction for the 2005-2010 period. However, the state government has not given its nod so far,” said Hemant Nikam, PMC tax assessment and collection officer.

The PMC was to pay Rs 35,000 to the assessment officer for the job, he said. “The delay in appointment of the special officer has resulted in financial loss to the civic body. Therefore, a PMC officer should be allowed to carry out the assessment,” he added.

Meanwhile, the civic tax department has embarked on a drive to recover property tax dues, which have been rising of late. The tax department has already collected Rs 5 crore from property owners in the past few days. “Those citizens who have not paid property tax should do so immediately to avoid action,” said civic tax officials.

Tax department officials said non-payment of dues would invite penal action, which includes the property being attached. The civic tax department is planning to form as many 10 squads to recover dues. Property tax is charged on immovable or tangible real property, such as land, buildings and permanent improvements.

The Indian Express     27.08.2012

MHCC mulls tax sops for owners who conserve heritage buildings

To encourage private owners and tenants to conserve and maintain heritage structures, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) has recommended that the state government extend financial incentives, such as tax benefits and concessional interest rate on loans, to such properties. Besides, Trusts and charitable institutions donating money to such properties may be allowed income tax deduction, the committee has said.

If the recommendations are accepted by the state and the Central government, Mumbai may well be the first metro in India to provide varied financial incentives to owners of private heritage structures. At present, among the country’s large cities or metros, Hyderabad is perhaps the only one that specifically waives 50 per cent of property tax for such structures.

“The recommendations were drafted by the MMRDA’s heritage conservation wing under former Mumbai municipal commissioner D M Sukhthankar. The previous heritage committee had in 2010 approved these. We have studied them again and forwarded them to the state government for approval,” said V Ranganathan, MHCC chairman. He added that the committee has not yet discussed the possibility of drafting stricter regulations against wanton demolition and alteration to heritage properties.

In the list of incentives, a copy of which is available with Newsline, the MHCC chairman stated: “It is a normal experience that penalties and punishments, which are difficult to implement due to considerable difficulties experienced in the administration having large span of control, never act that effectively. The committee feels that the incentive of Transferable Development Rights is not sufficient and some direct monetary benefits as well as indirect tax benefits are necessary.