THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The revenue wing under the City Corporation has claimed that it is finding it difficult to collect tax arrears from big business establishments operating from the city.
The officials said a couple of major business establishments’ had not settled their tax arrears. They cited legal intervention by the firms resulting in the delay in tax collections.
It is learnt that the civic body was supposed to collect tax to the tune of Rs 2.42 crore from one of the textile majors and Rs 5.7 crore from a major retail outlet.
Mayor V.K. Prasanth told this newspaper that notices were served and they have sought legal intervention. “There are some violations in the buildings occupied by the textile major and as per the Municipality Act the civic body can collect three times more tax from unauthorized buildings,” he said.
Mr Prasanth said that compared to previous years, the tax collection was progressing exceptionally well and the revenue wing was able to collect 75 per cent of the total `54 crore due.
However, the representatives of the textile major and retail outlet denied any dues to the civic body claiming that its the responsibility of the property owner to pay the tax. “We don’t owe any tax to the corporation. We hired the building for running our business and the owner of the building should pay the property tax. It’s clearly written in the contract,” said a staff.
A representative of the retailer also said that the building owner was responsible for paying the tax. “We have just occupied this space and we don’t owe any tax arrears to the corporation,” said the official.
