Go-ahead from tax dept to be must for building home

Building a new home in Delhi is set to get tougher.

Building a new home in Delhi is set to get tougher.

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The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has finalised a plan to make it mandatory for people to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the property tax department before their building plans are sanctioned. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation too has made similar plans that should augment the collection of property tax.

In order to make sure that the payers of property tax are not harassed, the high-powered tax committee of the north Delhi civic body has decided that the onus of producing the certificate will lie with the property tax department.

“If a certificate is not issued by the department within 21 days of application, the building plans will be automatically sent for sanctioning. The officials concerned will then face action,” said Rajesh Bhatia, chairman of the committee.

Following steps by the civic body, the tax collection has already improved.

In the first quarter of the current financial year, the number of taxpayers increased by about half a lakh to 3.24 lakh.

The online system of depositing property tax is turning popular. Around 1.83 lakh have already chosen to pay taxes online. Last year, 1.33 lakh people had opted for the online facility in the period between April to August.

“By making the NOC mandatory, the body can improve its collections,” added Bhatia.