Out of Rs 36.06 crore received as property tax during the three-month rebate period that ended on June 30, the municipal corporation (MC) received the maximum amount from owners of commercial properties.
Most taxpayers are from the residential segment but commercial property owners outdid them in paying tax. The reason was the high charges of commercial properties as compared to residential ones.
As sum of Rs 24.78 crore came from commercial properties of the city, while the remaining Rs 11.28 crore was deposited by taxpayers of residential properties. Record showed that 14,039 people paid their tax in the commercial segment, while over 65,961 under the residential category during the rebate period.
Tax defaulters to pay 25% penalty, 12% interest
An official said, “A significant number of people paid their tax to the civic body during the rebate period, but maximum amount has come from commercial properties. Commercial properties are divided zone-wise for tax collection as per their area, location and value.”
Out of total around 1.20 lakh taxpayers from both commercial and residential properties, around 80,000 paid their property tax from April till June.
Now, the defaulters would also have to pay 25% penalty and 12% interest amount on the total amount of their, failing which strict action would be taken against them, which can go up to sealing of properties in case of commercial properties and disconnection of water supply for residential properties.
Since the civic body received the orders of the local bodies department of the UT last year to waive-off commercial property tax from 13 villages that were transferred to the MC from the UT administration in 2019, no notices have be sent to them till now. With this move, the authority has lost Rs 76.11 lakh during this financial year, a huge chunk of amount for the cash-strapped civic body.
