Curation Team
CHANDIGARH: At a time when every political party, including the ruling BJP, has come out strongly against the steep hike in property tax, officials of Chandigarh municipal corporation are going the extra mile to maximise tax collection during the two-month rebate period. As part of the exercise, the officials have initiated a strategy to personally contact the city’s top 100 taxpayers, encouraging them to clear their dues between April and May to benefit from the tax rebate.
The tax branch staff, responsible for property tax matters, will reach out to these high-value taxpayers to ensure they submit their payments during the current rebate period. These substantial payments primarily originate from commercial properties within the city. Officials said the majority of these top 100 high-value taxpayers belong to the commercial sector.
Officials have begun distributing property tax bills across all categories through MC staff, with the decision to identify and contact the top 100 high-value taxpayers being finalised on Wednesday. This initiative aims to secure substantial revenue through property tax in the initial two months of the financial year, supporting crucial MC expenditures. Revenue from water charges and property tax, being major income sources, is essential for necessary expenses alongside the grant-in-aid (GiA) received from the Chandigarh administration.
Rebate offer
Residential property owners can avail a 20% rebate, while commercial property owners receive a 10% rebate by paying their property tax during April and May. The MC has stipulated that failure to pay within this period will result in a 25% penalty on the total calculated property tax, plus 12% interest. The authority anticipates significant tax collection during these initial two months of the new financial year.
Tax collection
Since April 1, the MC has collected over Rs 3 crore in property tax till Wednesday. Currently, Chandigarh has approximately 1.42 lakh properties registered for the current financial year, comprising 1.12 lakh residential and 30,000 commercial properties. Recent physical surveys have identified additional properties, predominantly residential, which have been included in the current financial year’s records.
