Friday, July 24, 2009

Seizure notices yield Rs 1.33 cr property tax dues in Pune : Assetventures

Property tax defaulters in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) areas coughed up Rs 1.33 crore after the corporation's property tax department sent seizure notices to 109 defaulters.
Speaking to TOI, Shahaji Pawar, assistant commissioner, PCMC said that the 109 property tax defaulters owed Rs 2.16 crore as dues.
"The property tax department has intensified its drive to recover the dues from defaulters. Seizure notices are being issued to defaulters who owed large sums. Each divisional office was given the target to send 15 seizure notices to recover the dues. The defaulters have partly paid their dues after receiving the notices. If they do not clear their dues, their properties will be auctioned to recover the balance."
He said that property tax bills are being sent to the property holders for 2009-10. The department has collected Rs 10.36 crore as property tax till now, while it had collected Rs 6.56 crore till end of June in 2008-09.
The property tax department has announced a special scheme of Free Singapore trip' to 15 property tax-payers who have cleared their property tax dues and also paid the tax for the current year. as per the scheme, two members of the taxpayer's family or his two nominees will get a free trip to Singapore.
Pawar said, "Property tax bills for 2009-10 are being sent to the taxpayers. There are a total of 2.71 lakh properties in the municipal limits and we have still to distribute around 60,000 bills. Property taxpayers have to pay their pending dues if any and this year's tax before August 30 to be eligible for the Singapore trip."
He added that a list of such eligible taxpayers will be compiled after August 31. "We will select 15 property holders through a lottery system for the Singapore trip," he stated.
The property tax department has collected a record tax revenue of Rs 88.88 crore in 2008-09. Pawar said, "The department hopes to collect property tax of around Rs 30 crore till the end of August this year. We will start a drive to create awareness among the people to pay tax on time. The department will use loudspeakers mounted on vehicles to make an appeal to the people to pay tax on time and be eligible for the Singapore trip."

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