Pune: Rs 750 Crore collected by PMC as property tax in two months

Pune: The officials at the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) have said that the civic body managed to collect Rs. 750 crore as property tax in the first two months of the financial year despite the economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tax bills were sent to property owners in the city on the first day of the financial year, i.e., April 1, said the civic administration.

In-charge of the property tax department of the PMC, Ajeet Deshmukh said that this time, the collection has been Rs. 190 crore more than the same period last year. Last year during the first two months of the financial year, Rs. 560.34 crore was collected. Till now, owners of around five lakh properties have paid their tax, reported The Indian Express.

If the bills are paid for the financial year by May 31 by the taxpayers, the civic body provides them with a discount of 10 percent. And, for maintaining no dues, an accidental insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakh is also provided. For those who didn’t pay their taxes on time will charged a penalty of 2 percent from July 1 by the Pune Municipal Corporation. A discount of Rs. 16.60 crore has been provided to regular taxpayers this year by the Pune Municipal Corporation.

Officials said that out of the Rs. 751 crore, Rs. 466 crore was paid via the online payment facility while Rs. 214 crore were paid via check deposits and Rs. 70 crore through cash transactions.

In order to avail the discount, the taxpayers have been asked to clear their dues by May 31 by the corporation. However, many citizens have complained that they got exorbitant bills with any intimation from the Pune Municipal Corporation. The proposed hike in the property tax was rejected by the outgoing elected general body of the PMC.

Meanwhile, property tax is also being collected from 23 villages that were recently merged in the civic limits.