The Hindu      Karnataka (Mysuru)      07.09.2016   

MCC finds discrepancies in property tax collection

The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has found glaring discrepancies in the assessment of property tax under the Self-Assessment Scheme (SAS).

Inaccurate assessment of property tax based on building area by commercial and domestic properties may have caused a revenue loss to the tune of Rs. 50 crore since the launch of SAS, said Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa on Tuesday.

MCC has undertaken a tax collection drive and around Rs. 3.5 crore has been collected since the launch. Still, property owners owe the civic body around Rs. 90 crore, Mr. Bhyrappa said.

The civic body has also collected water dues to the tune of Rs. 5 crore, he added.

The discrepancies in property tax collection were uncovered recently while collecting tax from a reputed hotel in the city. A tax difference amount of Rs. 20.21 lakh was collected from the hotel, the mayor said, as its area had been wrongly calculated under SAS.

“Though the property measured 51,272 sq.ft, it had assessed the size at 41,000 sq.ft. The hotel had been paying tax accordingly since 2013-14. We noticed this and collected the difference tax for the actual size from 2013-14 to 2016-17,” he said.

Mr. Bhyrappa expressed suspicion that many property owners might be paying less than what they should with “wrong calculations” under SAS.

Random checks

The Mayor said he has asked revenue officials to reassess tax collections and randomly check the properties, mostly commercial ones, to find more discrepancies, if any.

Blaming officials for causing revenue loss to the MCC, Mr. Bhyrappa said he has brought this to the notice of the MCC Commissioner for taking action against the officials responsible.

However, the Mayor could not give convincing replies on how property owners paying lower tax under SAS had flown under the radar all these years. He just said, “I have appointed zonal officers for property tax collection and to check discrepancies.”

Mayor says many property owners might be paying less than what they should under SAS