The ruling Congress and the opposition Telugu Desam Party have defaulted on property tax payment to the Eluru Municipal Corporation (EMC) for their respective district party offices for a long time, according to Municipal Commissioner K. Sadana.
The TDP had not paid property tax, which accumulated up to Rs. 10 lakh for its district office in the city since its was constructed more than two decades, while the Congress was yet to clear tax dues amounting to Rs 2.21 lakh since 1993, she said, on Wednesday while directing the bill collectors to ensure tax compliance by the officials from these two parties.
‘No exemption’The Commissioner clarified that the government had not exempted any office of the political parties from payment of property tax at a review meet on tax collections. Ms. Sadana said the EMC had launched a special drive for tax collections in the city. The municipal corporation ought to have received Rs. 11.37 crore in the form of property tax by the end of March during the previous fiscal, but could only manage to collect Rs 9.67 crore, she said. The Commissioner directed the EMC officials to recover the tax dues of Rs. 2 crore in the next two days and seize properties of the defaulters, especially commercial establishment.
