Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on property tax collection overdrive

While the officials have only managed to net Rs 545 crore, the tax collectors of every circle are now expected to collect Rs 10 crore per day to make sure that they meet the revenue target

  • Published On Feb 18, 2016 at 05:00 PM IST
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HYDERABAD: Facing a time crunch, tax inspectors and valuation officers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) are now posed with a daunting task of collecting Rs 1,100 crore property tax.

While the officials have only managed to net Rs 545 crore, the tax collectors of every circle are now expected to collect Rs 10 crore per day to make sure that they meet the revenue target. According to sources, there are close to 2,000 major property tax defaulters. "We have asked all officials of the wing to speak to top 1,000 defaulters in each of the 24 circles. According to our calculations, the dues from these properties are to the tune of Rs 400 crore," said the source, while adding that these properties have arrears from previous years as well.

Officials also confessed that collecting taxes has become a herculean task when it comes to properties in the core parts of the city like Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills and other surrounding areas. And, since the tax rates are correlated with the annual rental value, the officials say they are looking to re-evalute the properties in these areas to ensure they charge the correct rates. "We have a huge task ahead of us as there are thousands of houses and dozens of commercial properties from which we need to collect taxes. Usually, what we have noticed is that people wait till the end of the financial year (March) to pay tax dues," said P Samrat Ashok, deputy commissioner, circle 10. He said that the top property tax defaulter in this circle was the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (Nims) which previously had taxes amounting to Rs 15.76 crore pending. Only making matters worse, the deputy commissioner said that there were several commercial complexes in the area which host multiple companies or organisations. "There are instances where we receive payment from one company, whereas the rest of the building fails to pay up," he said.

According to calculations by the civic body last year, a mall in Banjara Hills was listed as a tax defaulter, with arrears to the tune of Rs 2.48 crore and the promoters have paid half of their total dues.

There are 13.6 lakh properties in the city, of which 10 lakh are residential complexes, and the remaining are commercial complexes. Now, civic officials are compiling data from the water works and the discom to ascertain properties which have a commercial water or power connection for accordingly calculating taxes.

  • Published On Feb 18, 2016 at 05:00 PM IST
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