Did you know that the signages outside shops are taxable? Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials are hoping that these will be an additional source of revenue to the cash-strapped civic body.
On Thursday, officials toured M.G. Road and Brigade Road and urged shop owners to pay advertisement tax to the civic body.
When a few shop owners resisted, officials brought down the display boards of their shops. However, the civic body later gave them two days’ time to pay the tax.
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“The drive will focus on Shanthinagar ward. According to our estimate, we can collect around Rs. 4 crore from this ward alone,” said K. Mathai, BBMP’s assistant commissioner (advertisement), who has submitted three reports in this regard to the commissioner.
He said that though the potential, according to his report, is Rs. 6,500 crore, the BBMP can collect Rs. 50 crore this fiscal. Last year, the total advertisement tax collected was Rs. 22 crore. The advertisement tax collection has not crossed Rs. 25 crore per annum in the past few years, he said.
While a lot of attention is being given to hoardings, BBMP officials have not been collecting tax due to the civic body for various other display materials. According to the advertisement bye-laws, the civic boy can levy tax on all display material, including police barricades, ads on medians, gantries and those on buses and autorickshaws.
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“Over the past few years, the BBMP has not collected tax from these sources. Two days ago, we intimated shop owners and began the drive on Thursday,” Mr. Mathai said.
The BBMP commissioner will soon write to the police commissioner as well as the managing director of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) with regard to the collection of advertisement tax for the display advertisments put up by them. K. Mathai, BBMP’s assistant commissioner (advertisement), said that advertisements displayed on BMTC buses are taxable as per advertisement bye-laws. So are and police barricades, Mr. Mathai added.