Patna: Grappling with the task to achieving revenue collection of ₹200 crore from its internal resources, the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has set up four teams of amins under the supervision of town planner to identify the buildings which defaulted on property tax.
The PMC has launched special drive to boost the holding tax collection by targetting the buildings that have come up in the last five years. The special drive had to be launched after the officials noticed that the amount of holding tax was not going up in proportion of the building plans sanctioned in the past five years.
The municipal corporation had collected more than ₹100 crore as holding tax in the 2023-24 fiscal, even though major defaulters, mainly government installations, had not paid a sum of ₹50 crore. “The PMC has approved over 600 building plans in the last fiscal. About 400-500 new buildings are getting added to the city’s landscape, but property tax are not increase that way,” said a senior officer.
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The PMC officer said that the teams will inspect all the buildings that have been made in the last five years across 75 wards. “Our team will assess whether the building owners or flat owners are paying their property tax as per the norms or evading the tax. Penalty would be imposed on those not paying the appropriate tax,” he said.
Property seizure notices issued to 220 major defaulters
The PMC has issued property seizure notices on more than 220 defaulters, who have not cleared their property tax for the past many years. All premises, which had property tax amounting more than ₹1 lakh due, were issued notices to confiscate their property. There was a sudden surge in deposit of holding tax after PMC initiated the process to impound the property.
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Property owners can do self assessment of holding tax
Anyone who has not begun paying the holding tax of his/her property and did not added any construction to the existing premises can ask for assessment of tax by dialling a toll free number 155340 and book their slot for officials’ visit. A team of revenue officials will visit the address and assess and re-assess the property tax. The building owners may also do the assessment and re-assessment of property tax by visiting official website of the PMC (www.pmc.bihar.gov.in).
PMC offering 5% rebate on property tax till June
The PMC is offering 5% discount on deposit of property tax till June. To facilitate smooth deposit of tax, the corporation’s tax collection counters are functioning on Sundays and on holidays. Alternatively, the property owners can also pay taxes by using QR codes issued to authorised personnel of the PMC.
