The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation collected 324 crore property tax, including vacant land tax, in the just concluded 2021-22 financial year.
This is the highest ever annual revenue realised by the Vizag civic body in taxes.
The collectible demand for the 2021-22 financial year was 340 crore. On the other hand, the GVMC ended the financial year with 186 crore water tax collection – the highest in the last three years.
The tax flow took a beating due to Covid-19 pandemic in 2019-20 and 2020-21. In March 2020, the GVMC could realise only 11 crore. The GVMC usually collects about 80 to 100 crore in March – the end-month of the financial year. The civic body suffered a huge revenue loss in the 2019-20 financial year. While its property tax revenue stood at 302 crore in the 2018-19 fiscal, it dropped to 224 crore in 2019-20. The GVMC witnessed some recovery in 2020-21 by earning 270 crore taxes.
GVMC commissioner G Lakshmisha said the improved tax collections in 2021-22 are a testimony that the GVMC can improve any parameter in terms of public services and amenities. “The GVMC extends its gratitude to the citizens of the city for timely payment of the taxes. Increased revenue means that the GVMC will be in a better position to augment the infrastructure of the city,” said Lakshmisha.
“For the last one month, several employees worked late into the night. The tax collection from the public sector organisations also improved in the last fiscal. GVMC mayor and ward corporators have helped the GVMC improve its revenue collections,” said Lakshmisha.
Deputy commissioner (revenue) P Nallanayya said property tax has been levied based on the market price of the property as against the earlier method of levying property tax based on rental value of the property.
“The GVMC worked on planning and execution of this new tax system for six to seven months. The property tax database has been revised according to the new system. We conducted regular review meetings to monitor the tax flow, progress and targets,” said Nallanayya.
