In the first six months of the current fiscal year, the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) has managed to collect approximately 70.7% of the total targeted revenue of Rs 130 crore for property tax in the city.The local body had fixed a target of obtaining Rs 90 crore property tax by September 30. To promote filing of returns, the local bodies department had also announced a 10% rebate for taxpayers depositing the dues by September 30.
As per sources, the Ludhiana MC had collected around Rs 92.65 crore till the midnight of September 30 through over 2.44 lakh property tax returns filed by the residents. The MC managed to collect over Rs 10 crore on the last day of the deadline on Saturday, and the property tax collection till Friday evening was Rs 81.5 crore.
“A total of 2.44 lakh property tax returns were filed and we have received Rs 92.65 crore. However, since some entries are yet to be made, we are expecting the amount to reach Rs 94 crore,” said a senior MC official.
According to the submissions made by the local body, the state department of local bodies had approved the property tax target of Rs 130 crore for the current fiscal year.
Since, the property tax, which is one of the major sources of income for the Ludhiana local body, must be paid by the taxpayers by December, the MC now has three additional months to meet the Rs 130 crore target.
The authorities are hopeful of exceeding the target amount as the state local bodies department have recently announced a one-time settlement (OTS) policy, as per which property tax defaulters of previous years will not be charged any penalty or interest if they pay the pending dues before December 31.
Interestingly, some government departments are included in the list of defaulters.