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Taxation

Only 60 pc property tax collected in BBMP east zone

Tuesday, 03 December 2013 11:04 administrator
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Deccan Herald             03.12.2013

Only 60 pc property tax collected in BBMP east zone

Transport and District In-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Monday ordered the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to issue show cause notices to 12 Assistant Revenue Officers (AROs) for not collecting property tax from the east zone regularly.

Reddy, who chaired a meeting to review revenue collection, was furious with AROs of the east zone. He made them stand on their feet and demanded an explanation for their “failure” to generate revenue. The minister was angry that 40 per cent of the property tax in the east zone was yet to collected.

The target was Rs 468 crore, but only Rs 287 crore have been collected, he pointed out.

He directed the officers to submit compliance reports about tax collection in the next meeting on January 2. They should also explain the reasons for their “inefficiency”, he said.

BBMP Commissioner Lakshminarayana and Mayor B S Satyanarayana also took the officers to task for their inability to collect the property tax.

“During the last three months, the officers were repeatedly told to collect the tax regularly but not a single person took the instruction seriously. From now on, each one of you (AROs) should collect property tax from 25 houses everyday,” said the mayor.

The officers have been instructed to collect the remaining amount of Rs 181 crore within a month.

Other decisions taken at the meeting include the issuance of Property Identification (PID) numbers to the upcoming new 18,500 properties in the east zone within a month, revaluation of properties built on more than 3,000 sq ft and issuance of notices to property owners who owe more than Rs 50,000.
 

Pune Municipal Corporation rakes in Rs 4.5 crore from traders for local body tax evasion

Saturday, 30 November 2013 11:26 administrator
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The Times of India          30.11.2013

Pune Municipal Corporation rakes in Rs 4.5 crore from traders for local body tax evasion

PUNE: Civic officials on Thursday carried out massive search operations at the establishments of a trader and slapped a penalty of Rs 48 lakh on him for defaulting on local body tax (LBT) on materials worth over Rs 5 crore.

"This is the biggest raid we have conducted, so far. We raided four establishments owned by this trader around 9 am and inspections continued till late evening. We found that the trader had bought garments, furniture and other goods worth around Rs 5 crore. He was supposed to pay an LBT of around Rs 18 lakh on the goods purchased, but he will now have to shell out Rs 48 lakh including the penalty for evading the tax," said Rajendra Jagtap, additional commissioner, Pune Municipal Corporation.

The civic body's LBT department initiated a special drive against defaulters on November 20, which will be conducted in phases till March. So far, the officials have conducted several raids across the city and have caught as many as 16 traders for tax evasion on goods total worth Rs 4.5 crore.

Civic officials said the administration has sought the state government's permission to carry out such raids. Random checks are being carried out at garment, liquor and small-scale industries primarily. Traders who remain unregistered will have to pay five times the LBT amount, whereas the registered traders evading the tax will have to shell out two times their LBT amount.

"We have been studying the data available with the sales tax and octroi department and other government agencies. The officials have zeroed in on some traders, who are liable to pay LBT, but have not done so. We provide the state government with specific inputs and then conduct the raids after obtaining prior permission," said Jagtap.

Octroi, property tax and development charges were the main sources of revenue for the PMC. The state government replaced octroi with LBT and the new tax structure came into force from April 1. As per the LBT rules, all traders who import goods worth over Rs 5,000 into the city have to register with the local civic body. Till date, the civic body has collected Rs 750 crore as LBT revenue.

Rs 5 crore worth goods bought by the trader

Rs 18 lakh was the LBT amount he evaded on the goods purchased

Rs 48 lakh is the fine he would now have to pay

16 traders caught so far for evading tax

Rs 4.5 crore collected as penalty

Rs 750 crore is PMC's LBT collection so far this fiscal

 

Civic body mops up Rs 18.59 crore as local body tax in current month

Saturday, 30 November 2013 11:18 administrator
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The Times of India          30.11.2013

Civic body mops up Rs 18.59 crore as local body tax in current month

AURANGABAD: Though the cash-strapped Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has mopped up Rs 18.59 crore as local body tax (LBT) in November this year, it is still struggling to achieve its annual target of Rs 200 crore LBT collection.

Deputy municipal commissioner Suresh Pedgaonkar, however, said that the civic body would achieve the target as it has collected Rs 112.9 crore till date under the head. "Normally, the collection figures are quite encouraging in the last two quarters of every financial year. From now onwards we hope to receive a monthly collection of about Rs 20 crore," Pedgaonkar said on Friday.

But experts in the field said that LBT collection figure in the city would not touch the Rs 200-crore mark. "It is only because of the Dasara and Diwali festivals that the AMC could collect Rs 18.59 crore in November. Otherwise, the average monthly collection is in the range of Rs 15 crore," they said.

When asked, Pedgaonkar said the last month's LBT collection was Rs 14.65 crore. "It is true that AMC's tax collection is in the range of Rs 15 crore but we are now focusing on assessment of bills and taking various measures to increase collection. Municipal commissioner Harshdeep Kamble has also asked us to generate Rs 20 crore a month on account of LBT," he added.

Pedgaonkar also said that the trading activities in the current season were quite satisfactory. "These days, the dealers are importing significant quantity of goods and it seems that markets are on the upbeat. We hope to receive a good amount on account of LBT."

During the previous festival season, the AMC had generated Rs 17.8 crore. "This time we have already collected Rs 18.59 crore and a few more days are remaining. The dealers have to pay the LBT before the 20th of every month but they make the payment even 10 to 12 days after that," he explained.

Since the LBT is the main source of revenue for the municipal body, the administration is implementing various initiatives to improve the tax collection. It has recently conducted a tax recovery drive against liquor dealers, hotels and transporters.

 
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