Mumbaikars pay Rs 500 crore in property tax
The BMC has in the past 26 days collected nearly Rs 500 crore in property tax. Since March 1, the civic body’s assessment and collection department had been prodding citizens to pay their property taxes in order to meet its annual target of Rs 5,439 crore. Civic officials said this rise is on expected lines as several citizens pay their taxes only in the last month of the financial year. “Till February-end, the property tax collection was Rs 3,860 crores while in the last 26 days, the collection rose significantly and touched Rs 4,350 crore. We are still more than Rs 1,000 crore behind our target, but we will try to meet the same,” said a civic official. For the civic body, property tax is the biggest source of revenue, followed by development charges which come from its development plan department. Till 2017, octroi was the highest source of revenue for BMC, however, it was abolished and replaced with GST. In March, the BMC has initiated action against 27 properties, mostly commercial, like water supplies being disconnected or attachment notices being served, for defaulting on tax. These properties include industrial premises, builders’ offices, private enterprises and commercial buildings. An official said they have also decided to auction five properties. “These properties owe the BMC around Rs 14 crore, while there are 13 other properties that have been sent attachment notices. These 13 properties owe the BMC Rs 37 crore. There are nine others whose water supply has been proposed to be disconnected.
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