Property tax evasion: Pay ₹1.15 crore, MC tells Sacred Heart Convent

Tightening the noose around one of the renowned schools in the city — Sarabha Nagar’s Sacred Heart Convent School — over property tax evasion, the Ludhiana municipal

Tightening the noose around one of the renowned schools in the city — Sarabha Nagar’s Sacred Heart Convent School — over property tax evasion, the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) served a notice to its management on Thursday.

The school management has been directed to pay ₹1.15 crore, including 100% penalty on the evaded tax amount. (Harsimar Pal Singh/Hindustan Times)

The school management has been directed to pay ₹1.15 crore, including 100% penalty on the evaded tax amount.

The civic body had earlier received a complaint wherein the complainant — an RTI activist — sought inquiry into the property tax returns filed by the school for the years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.

An MC official said that after going through the case, it was found that the school had filed property tax returns for three years under the self-occupied category. “The building owner or the tenant has to pay 7.5% of the annual rent as property tax, but in the case of schools, 50% exemption is provided by the department,” the official, who is not authorised to speak with media, added.

It was also found that the school management had evaded tax amounting to over ₹57 lakh by filing the tax return under the wrong category. “As per the tax evasion norms, the violator has to pay 100% penalty on the amount evaded, so the MC served a notice for the recovery of ₹1.15 crore,” the official said.

MC superintendent Harvinder Bindra said, “The school has evaded tax due to which a notice has been served to its management, seeking submission of ₹1.15 crore as tax, including penalty, otherwise action will be taken against the school after discussing the matter with senior officials. We have also tightened the noose around different city hospitals, managements of which had been evading tax.”

The school authorities, however, denied involvement in tax evasion.

School principal Sister Rashmi said, “No tax evasion has been done by the school and the notice served by the MC is not correct. The school has paid the tax as per the norms and is not involved in any illegal activity.”