The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) proposes to penalize property tax-defaulters with a fine of 10% on the unpaid tax as well as a 10% interest on the outstanding amount till March 31 this year.
This was discussed on Monday as the BMC presented its full budget for 2023-24. The authorities showed a proposed surplus budget of Rs 49 lakh with an income of Rs 423.5 crore and expenditure of Rs 423 crore.
The civic body said it proposed to send notices of penalty and interest separately, along with tax bills, to property owners from October 2023. The penalty-a combination of fine and interest-will, however, not be applicable if anyone clears the dues by September 30, 2023.
According to the records, the total amount of property tax pending in the BMC area is Rs 65 crore, of which Rs 33 crore is from Salt Lake properties and Rs 32 crore from Rajarhat-Gopalpur. The aim is to collect Rs 40 crore from property tax in 2023-24.
Civic officials said no penalty, interest or late payment had ever been imposed on property tax defaulters in the BMC area. Though the BMC had proposed a 10% penalty on unpaid property tax in the last year’s budget, it was not imposed owing to some technical reasons.
BMC holds regular camps across wards, including at large housing complexes, to collect property tax, where they offer a provision of payment in instalments. Despite its efforts, the civic body had till December 31, 2022, collected Rs 23.9 crore only.
The BMC also plans to ask the West Bengal Valuation Board to reassess the property tax structure of Salt Lake and Rajarhat-Gopalpur and come up with a uniform tax structure for all its 41 wards. Officials said the last time a general assessment of the tax structure of BMC was held was in 2005-06, and that too, for wards 1 to 26, which fell under the erstwhile Rajarhat Gopalpur municipality. For Salt Lake, which used to be under the former Bidhannagar municipality, the assessment was done from 1996 to 2000.