North body to organise property tax camps to boost revenue
THE INITIATIVE AIMS TO FACILITATE PROPERTY TAX PAYERS TO PAY THEIR HOUSE TAX ON TIME, THE DEADLINE OF WHICH IS JUNE 30, AND AVAIL OF 15% REBATE ON THE TAXABLE AMOUNT
NEWDELHI: After missing its propery tax collection target for two consecutive years, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has started organising camps to rake in Rs 1,000 crore in this financial year.
“Last year, we collected Rs 531 crore against the targeted Rs 900 crore from house tax. In 2016-17, the department collected R 600 crore against the R 900 target,” said a north corporation official.
“Even the numbers of tax payers in 2017-18 reduced considerably. It came down from 4.38 lakh in 2016-17 to 3.97 lakh in 2017-18. This prompted us to organise camps at zonal property tax offices and neighbourhoods from the beginning of the financial year,” said the official.
Falling short of property tax target is bad news for the cashstrapped corporation running a deficit of R 1,500 crore. Property tax is a major source of revenue for the municipal corporations and its failure to meet the target has resulted in irregular payment of salaries and frequent sanitation strikes.
The initiative aims to facilitate property tax payers to pay their house tax on time, the deadline of which is June 30, and avail of 15% rebate on the taxable amount.
Besides the 15% rebate, 30% additional rebate is given to senior citizens and women submitting house tax on time and living in a property up to 200 square metres. Those who do not pay up attract an interest of 1% on the taxable amount, as per provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act.
“To reach maximum people, we have decided to send text messages, keep our headquarters and zonal offices open on the last Saturday of the month and display notices on our websites,” said senior North Corporation official.
“To save time and energy, tax payers can avail of the facility of e-filing of property tax returns and deposition of property tax online. In case of any grievance or enquiry, they may contact property tax offices or log on www.mcdproperty tax.in or www.mcdonline.gov.in,” said Adesh Gupta, mayor, North Corporation.
In south Delhi, officials are co-ordinating with local councillors and RWAS to organise such property tax camps.
“Though our collection and number of taxpayers have increased in the last two years, we aim to add at least 50,000 new tax payers in our record. That’s why besides organising door to door survey, we are holding house tax camps,” said the south corporation official.