Chandigarh MC puts 500 property tax defaulters on notice

So far, 300 commercial and 200 residential property owners have been put on notice to recover ₹3 crore tax

The Chandigarh municipal corporation has started issuing notices to property tax defaulters for the 2021-22 fiscal. So far, 500 property owners — 300 commercial and 200 residential — have been put on notice to recover ₹3 crore property tax. In the coming days, the civic body will issue more notices.

For a financially struggling Chandigarh MC, property tax comprises a major chunk of its revenue.

For a financially struggling MC, property tax comprises a major chunk of its revenue. It has so far collected ₹36.06 crore with around 80,000 assessees paying up by June 30. The taxpayers with outstanding dues will now have to pay penalty as well as interest on the pending amount.

“Of around 40,000 commercial property payees, only around 14,000 have paid the tax so far. Around 20,000 residential property owners are still to pay too,” said a senior MC official, who did not wish to be named. “In the latest list of notices, property owners with highest pending tax are in the industrial area with dues ranging between ₹10 lakh and ₹15 lakh. For residential properties, the pending dues are generally in thousands only.”

There are 1.4 lakh properties under the jurisdiction of the MC, of which around 1.2 lakh are taxable.

There are 1.4 lakh properties under the jurisdiction of the MC, of which around 1.2 lakh are taxable. For the 2021-22 fiscal, the MC had extended the deadline to avail rebate on the payment of property tax from May 31 to June 30 amid the Covid-induced lockdown. Residential property taxpayers were eligible to get a rebate of 20% and commercial property taxpayers 10%.

The MC had started issuing notices after the last date of rebate period ended on June 30, but the process picked up pace last week. Criticising the MC move, Pankaj Khanna, president of the Industries Association of Chandigarh, said: “The industry in the city has suffered major losses due to the pandemic and it is yet to recover from the second wave. The MC instead of issuing notices should have extended the last date of rebate period. This would have given much needed relief to the industry and residents.”

UT admn biggest defaulter with ₹24-cr dues

The Chandigarh municipal corporation is yet to recover around ₹24 crore in outstanding property tax from the UT administration.

“Revenue from property tax could have been higher if government offices had deposited the full outstanding amount of ₹27 crore. But, the tax reconciliation process with the UT administration helped us recover an additional ₹3.6 crore. We expect the administration to deposit more of its outstanding dues in this fiscal,” an MC official said.

For the recovery of dues, the MC had issued notices to the estate office, UT Press Trust, State Transport Authority, sports complex, hockey and football stadiums, swimming pool, Traffic Police Lines, Bal Niketan, old age home, Sector-17 bus stand and a couple of police stations among others. The UT engineering department managing these buildings have defaulted on property tax payments.

“We have recently got a reply from the UT engineering department. In response to it, we would have to issue a fresh notice of recovery,” the official said.

The MC had also served a notice of ₹9 crore pending dues on the Panjab University. But, after submissions from the varsity, it has again started the survey of the properties for a reassessment of the tax.