Amnesty scheme for taxpayers to go property tax

Waiting for the last minute to pay your property taxes may not be a good idea.

The three municipal corporations in the city are likely to forego the amnesty scheme given usually towards the end of the financial year.

Under the scheme, the interest on the arrears is waived off. According to officials, the rebates lead to losses for the municipal bodies and there is no need to continue them.

“First, people wait for the amnesty scheme and, therefore, delay their payments. Secondly, the Delhi Municipal Act does not have any provisions for the rebates,” said a senior official of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The civic bodies are also focusing on extracting property taxes from government agencies such as the Delhi Development Authority and the railways that have not been paying the money.

The north city civic corporation is focused on cracking down on commercial properties to meet the targets. The property tax department of the civic unit has so far issued 3,500 orders for clearing of dues that amount to approximately Rs. 50 crore. A total of 11,500 notices have been issued to the defaulters — all non-residential properties that are liable to pay property tax at the rate of 20%.

Officials said they would attach the accounts of defaulters if the tax was not paid within 30 days of issuing the orders.