In a bid to bring in more property owners under the tax net, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) will link up with Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) and Vani Vilas Water Works to seek data related to properties in the city.
The property data obtained from CESC and VVWW will be collated and matched with the property registry of the MCC, which will help reveal the list of properties outside the tax net. Citizens may evade property tax, but would have availed power or water connections which will be available in the data shared by the CESC and VVWW.
MCC Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath told The Hindu that the process of sharing the data was being finalised with the two establishments. “Though the MCC has about 1.75 lakh registered properties, there are about 25 to 30 per cent built properties – both commercial and residential – that are still outside the tax net,” he said.
As a result, the MCC was garnering less revenue than its potential, despite extending civic services to such properties by way of asphalting roads, providing streetlights and ensuring water supply.
The MCC’s projected revenue through property tax for 2015-16 is pegged at around Rs. 125 crore but there could be a significant increase in its revenue if all properties are brought under the tax net.
The MCC is also set to streamline property tax calculation and make it available online.
“A new and updated software has been finalised and once it is uploaded, it will enable the people to arrive at the right figures and pay the amount accordingly,” said Mr. Betsurmath.
At present, a majority of taxpayers make use of middlemen or the MCC staff to do the calculation and anomalies in arriving at the correct figure result in either revenue loss to the MCC or tax payers paying higher than the actual rates.
“We have observed that the calculation is on the lower side in case of most properties resulting in revenue loss to the MCC and the online calculator will help overcome this issue,” he added.
Property tax is a major revenue generator for the cash-strapped MCC .
