The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC) collected ₹ 55.60 crore in property tax for the 2023-24 financial year, Despite MCs diligent efforts to collect property taxes, more than 40,000 property owners have defaulted on their payments.
As per the reports by the MC, there are around 1.40 laks property owner in the regions and only 88,200 fulfilled their obligations. This breakdown includes 69,000 residential while the rest are commercial property owners. This means that a substantial portion of the city’s property owners has not contributed to the local revenue pool, these funds are used for maintenance of essential services provided by the MC like sanitation, infrastructure maintenance, and public amenities.
Early Birds get Rebates and Late Payers will be Penalized
The Municipal Corporation has initiated incentivizing timely payments by offering a rebate of up to 20% for those who pay their property taxes for the 2024-25 fiscal year. To claim the rebate the payment shall be made between April 1 and May 31. Residential property owners will enjoy a 20% rebate, on the other hand, commercial property owners will only receive a 10% concession. Payments after the mentioned dates will be penalized with a 25% fee along with 12% interest charges on the outstanding dues.
Strict Actions Against Defaulters
The MC has taken a firm stance against non-payers. In cases where commercial property owners ignored repeated notices, the authorities sealed their properties. This prompted many defaulters to settle their dues and have their premises reopened. The is committed to collecting payments from all outstanding accounts.
“We are regularly following up with the defaulters. Many of the commercial property owners, who did not respond to our repeated notices, had their premises sealed. Many of them paid later and got their properties desealed. The others will also pay,” said an official
Outlook for New Taxpayers
As the property tax branch is currently preparing bills for the upcoming financial year the bills are being prepared and will be distributed shortly. These bills will include properties brought under the tax net for the first time in the previous fiscal year. This is also applicable to houses exceeding 500 square feet in area, encompassing both villages and residential colonies. Fresh surveys are underway, and the officials anticipate a further increase in the number of registered taxpayers, potentially improving future collection rates.
While the property tax collection plays a significant role in planning Municipal Corporations strategies to maintain smooth operations in the regions, that is just one piece of the city’s revenue puzzle. Various factors affect the overall health of Chandigarh’s financial conditions, such as Goods and Service Tax, Charges for utilities like water and electricity, fees for sanitation and waste collection, income from parking charges as well as grants received from central or state government. To attain better financial stability Chandigarh Municipal Council has to delved into these additional revenue sources.
