The Punjab government has announced a one-time settlement scheme for the property owners who have not paid or partially paid the property tax or house tax up to March 31, this year.
As per the notification issued by the local government department on Monday, the property owners will have to pay the principal amount in lump sum till December 31, 2023, while all the penalty and interest levied on the amount will be waived off till this period. After the expiry of this period, all the penalty and interest on the due amount will be charged.
Earlier, the state government had announced a one-time settlement scheme for the property tax defaulters in September 2021 to provide relief to the residents facing financial difficulties due to Covid-19 pandemic. Of the total defaulters, 23,700 had failed to pay the tax for 2019-20.In Punjab, the municipalities are divided into three categories for collection of property tax.
The property tax is calculated on the basis of the covered area and the open area of commercial and residential assets. The scheme would provide relief to the defaulters as they would be saved from paying a 20% penalty and 18% interest on the outstanding principal amount of the previous financial years.