The Times of India: Wednesday, 28 September 2011.
PUNE: Property owners whose property tax is valued over Rs 25,000 have failed to pay tax worth Rs 420 crore by March 31, 2011 to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
Over 24,000 residential property owners have not paid property tax of Rs 185 crore, while 16,000 non residential property owners have not paid tax of Rs 180 crore. Seventyfive government and non-government offices in the city have also failed to pay tax of Rs 9 crore. Also, the PMC has failed to collect tax of Rs 44 crore as cases in this regard are pending in the court.
"This is the list of defaulters whose property tax is valued at more than Rs 25,000. If the PMC decides to go for list of defaulters whose tax value is less then Rs 25,000, the civic body will find that over Rs 125 crore is to be recovered from them," said Vishwas Sahastrabuddhe, member of Pune Nagrik Sanghatana (PNS) who had sought property tax information under the Right to Information Act (RTI).
The PNS members have demanded that the PMC should efficiently recover the dues and also improve the functioning of the tax collection department. "Since 1980 the PMC has only 210 staff members in the tax collection department. This shows the apathy towards the department. The civic administration should immediately take steps to recover the property tax," states a press statement issued by PNS.
The PMC tax department officials admitted that because of the shortage staff it was impossible to recover property tax. "The demand to recruit more staff is pending for long. We have taken initiatives to recover maximum tax with the help of available staff, but then we have limitations," said one of the officials, requesting anonymity. He added that the PMC has not developed any mechanism to reach over six lakh property owners in the city.
Over 24,000 residential property owners have not paid property tax of Rs 185 crore, while 16,000 non residential property owners have not paid tax of Rs 180 crore. Seventyfive government and non-government offices in the city have also failed to pay tax of Rs 9 crore. Also, the PMC has failed to collect tax of Rs 44 crore as cases in this regard are pending in the court.
"This is the list of defaulters whose property tax is valued at more than Rs 25,000. If the PMC decides to go for list of defaulters whose tax value is less then Rs 25,000, the civic body will find that over Rs 125 crore is to be recovered from them," said Vishwas Sahastrabuddhe, member of Pune Nagrik Sanghatana (PNS) who had sought property tax information under the Right to Information Act (RTI).
The PNS members have demanded that the PMC should efficiently recover the dues and also improve the functioning of the tax collection department. "Since 1980 the PMC has only 210 staff members in the tax collection department. This shows the apathy towards the department. The civic administration should immediately take steps to recover the property tax," states a press statement issued by PNS.
The PMC tax department officials admitted that because of the shortage staff it was impossible to recover property tax. "The demand to recruit more staff is pending for long. We have taken initiatives to recover maximum tax with the help of available staff, but then we have limitations," said one of the officials, requesting anonymity. He added that the PMC has not developed any mechanism to reach over six lakh property owners in the city.
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