SDMC to roll out new amnesty scheme soon
NEW DELHI: In order to provide relief to the residents of unauthorised colonies, SDMC has announced to roll out a new amnesty scheme. The corporation said that as per terms of the scheme, on payment of only current year's tax in respect of residential property in the aforesaid colonies, the outstanding tax prior to the current year shall be exempted. In the case of non-residential properties in aforesaid colonies, if the taxpayer pays outstanding property tax for Financial Years 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, his property tax arrears for the prior period shall be exempted. The scheme will be operational only until March 31.
SDMC Mayor, Sunita Kangra further elaborated that the property tax department of all four corporation zones will organise special camps in the recently regularised colonies in association with the respective councillors. Officials will make all efforts to collect as much property tax as possible from these localities.
She said that under this scheme, residential property holders have to pay property tax only for the current financial year 2019-20 and the entire due property tax since 2004 will be waived off. Similarly, from owners of non-residential or commercial properties, property tax will be charged from the financial year 2017-18. They will have to deposit due property tax for the last three financial years. She stated that assesses will be benefited by the waiver of their due property tax on the payment of just one year's dues by March 31.
The Mayor stated that residents of these colonies are mostly from poor and middleclass families and generally are not in a position to make payment of their pending property tax dues of the last 16 years. Now, with this scheme on payment of current year's tax in respect of residential property all the prior dues shall be exempted and on payment of last three years tax dues in respect of non-residential property, all outstanding dues prior to 2017-18 shall be exempted.
SDMC'S Standing Committee Chairperson Bhupender Gupta explained that only around five per cent property owners in these previously unauthorised colonies had a record of paying their property taxes since 2004. "The number made sense as many residents felt they did not need to pay the taxes as civic amenities were not being provided at full efficiency owing to their unauthorised nature," Gupta said.
He added that this amnesty scheme will go a long way in providing a clean slate for property owners who have recently gotten their conveyance deeds registered. Gupta said that such a scheme recognises the need to move on and not fester on old dues while at the same time, integrating these property owners into a system will bring the full gamut of SDMC civic services to them.