In 10 months, BMC nets 15% property tax

The BMC property tax department was expecting to collect at least 35-40 per cent tax -- around Rs 5016.19 crore; but, in the last 10 months, it has recovered only 15 per cent tax (around Rs 335 crore). This is against the Rs 5602 crore revenue generated in the previous period.

Expressing concern, Assistant Commissioner Sangeeta Hasnale wrote to BMC Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi expressing fears that the BMC budget will be hit if revenues diminish further by March 31, 2020.

Before the Lok Sabha elections, the BMC had announced property tax exemption for homes less than 500 square feet. Later, it was decided to give an 8 per cent concession to housing societies that implement fertiliser generation projects, carry out rainwater irrigation and which segregate wet and dry waste during disposal.

Officials said that due to lack of clarity on the exemptions, adequate tax has not been recovered. Commenting on this, leader of opposition in the BMC, Ravi Raja, said the administration and the ruling party were responsible for BMC’s financial woes and added that property tax should be recovered as soon as possible, to avoid adding to the existing financial burden.

He said, “When the tax exemption for homes of 500 square feet was announced by the ruling party, a circular was also issued. However, due to anomalies in tax calculation method for the last six months, no tax has been collected. In addition, the administration has introduced a new levy. Due to these reasons, there is a shortfall in property tax.”