For the 2020-21 financial year, when people were indoors because of the COVID-19 lockdown and election work took over towards the year-end, the Coimbatore Corporation had managed to collect 91% of the property tax demand.
Sources in the Corporation said of the ₹ 171.25 crore to be collected, the Corporation had collected ₹ 115.59 crore. In the year before the last financial year (2019-2020) too the civic body had registered a similar tax collection percentage – 91.
As in 2019-20 FY, last year too, more assessees in the 20 wards in North Zone had paid the tax than their counterparts in the other four zones – 97%. In 2019-20, 95% tax payers had paid their taxes.
The lowest tax payment was in South Zone, both last year and the year before that as the collection percentage stood at 87% and 88% respectively.
Last financial year, the Corporation had also managed to improve property tax arrear collection – both in percentage and absolute terms as well. The Corporation collected 38% property tax arrears which worked out to ₹ 17.39 crore.
The Corporation sources said in the first half of the last financial year, the collection was poor because people mostly stayed indoors. It was only after the governments began easing restrictions that people began paying taxes.
To facilitate tax collection, the Corporation had established temporary centres and also deployed vehicles with computers and internet connection for people to pay right in their locality.
In addition to that the Corporation sent its bill collectors to those establishments where property tax were due. Armed with card swiping machines, those bill collectors returned with good returns in that people paid up then and there, the sources said.
While taking such initiatives, the Corporation was well aware that it needed to collect as much tax as possible by February as its staff would get busy once the Election Commission of India announced elections.
The 2020-21 financial year also saw the Corporation forego ₹ 3.60 crore as a result of the two month rent waiver that the government had given to establishments set up in Corporation buildings to help the owners overcome COVID-19 induced financial hardship.
