Property tax collection in Vizag encouraging

For Greater Vishakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC), property tax receipts for the first half of 2012-13 are encouraging.

The number of assessments has gone up and the tax collection so far is near the halfway mark.

For the corporation caught up in tax wrangle over the quantum of increase for more than year this is encouraging, say sources.

The number of properties has increased from 3.52 lakh last year to 3.65 lakh now.

While the total demand is Rs.74 crore a part of it is termed uncollectible. That includes the Rs. 13.25 crore payable by the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

VSP is now paying only half the tax following a petition pending in the court.

There are other government departments also that generally do not pay the tax. The total uncollectible thus comes to around Rs.9 crore to Rs.9.5 crore.

“Of the demand of Rs. 64 crore for the half-year, so far Rs.28 crore has been collected,” Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) M. Viswanatham told The Hindu on Monday.

However, there is some delay in serving the demand notices.

Some ten days ago, some of the bill collectors have sought more time for serving the notices. At that time there was 10 to 15 per cent pendency in the notices. In the first and fourth zones most of the distribution has been completed.

With hardly fifteen days to go for payment of the tax, unless notices are served people will not be in a position to comply with the notices.

It is expected that the corporation will be able to collect another Rs.10 crore by then. After the end of September, penal interest is levied on the tax.

Tax payments generally pick up in March when the government announces waiver of the penal interest.