Rajahmundry municipal corporation hopes for Rs 30 crore assets tax

RAJAHMUNDRY: Upper revision of property tax and bringing the unassessed properties into the tax net is expected to boost up revenue to the tune of Rs 2 cr by taking the total revenue to about Rs 30 crore by end of current fiscal in the municipal corporation.

The civic authorities have been streamlining the imposition of property tax and accordingly, several properties which were undervalued are being revised while those unassessed so far are being brought under the tax net.

In Rajahmundry municipal corporation, as many as 66,000 property tax assessees exist and on an average, the civic authorities get revenue in the form of property tax worth about Rs 28 cr in a fiscal.

In a bid to boost the tax revenues to the civic body and ensure that all properties are covered, the authorities have carried out an exercise to reassess the properties where they were found to be either undervalued or unassessed and served demand notices to the property owners to pay revised tax.

Accordingly, the civic authorities have collected property tax of RS 18.50 cr by the end of November and they are expecting to collect Rs 30.12 cr by end of March, 2017.

On the other hand, the civic authorities are also facing a tough time with the tax defaulters . There are about 100 such cases existing in the civic body. Some of the defaulters approached the courts seeking relief while some others  are waiting for a chance of waiver of interest on defaulted tax payment.

The civic authorities say that once a decision on expected waiver of interest on tax dues is announced, the defaulters will start clearing their dues filling up the coffers of the civic body.

Municipal corporation deputy commissioner M.D Phani Ram said, "We are putting in all efforts to enhance tax revenue to the civic body by streamlining the imposition of tax on properties and we are expecting to get nearly '2 cr additional revenue."