The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) said on Thursday said that an increasing number of property owners were paying property tax online.
The trend started after the first wave of the Covid pandemic in March-April 2020. Earlier, only 7% of the 4.5 lakh property owners paid their taxes online.
There has been a rise in the number of properties in the tax net in the last three years and the number of properties has also crossed 5 lakh. During the 40 days from April 1 to May 10 in the current fiscal, the NMC administration collected Rs54 crore, including Rs37.52 crore online, amounting to 70% of the total property tax collection.
NMC officials said that online payment of dues is completely hassle-free. Moreover, those paying online are entitled to 1% rebate on the tax amount. Those who pay the annual property tax at one go in April are also entitled to 8% rebate and 6% if paid in May, said NMC officials. In the 2019-20 financial year, the civic body had collected property tax amounting to Rs141 crore. Of which, Rs10crore was collected online.
After Covid cases started increasing from April 6, 2020, people started using online transactions to pay property tax during the Covid pandemic. In 2020-21, the NMC collected Rs120crore property tax. Of which, the civic body collected Rs30crore through online payment, accounting for 25% of the total property tax collection.
In 2022-23, the civic body collected Rs188cr property tax, including Rs78cr online. This accounted for 42% of total property tax collection. The NMC had set a property tax collection target of Rs150crore in the last financial year. But after the guidelines from the 15th finance commission, the civic administration revised its target to Rs185 cr. As per the guidelines, the NMC will not get the funds for various projects under the 15th finance commission if it does not achieve the property tax collection target.
