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Taxation

MCC to soon introduce online payment of property tax

Monday, 01 September 2014 07:00 administrator
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The Hindu   01.09.2014 

MCC to soon introduce online payment of property tax

Online payment of property tax in the city will soon be a reality, consequent to upgrading of software.

The proposal was originally mooted in 2010. However, the concept failed to take off due to technical and administrative issues as the Municipal Reforms Cell had insisted on fine tuning the software on one hand and digitising the property database of MCC on the other, before it could be launched.

M.B.L. Bhyrappa, chairman, Standing Committee on Finance, Taxation and Appeals Committee, told The Hindu that payment of property tax online could be a reality as early as “within a month” as some of the technical glitches had been sorted out.

Fine-tuning of software

“The software had to be fine-tuned to indicate a 15 per cent upward revision in property tax once in three years under the self-assessment scheme (SAS) as stipulated by law and this aspect has been incorporated in the new software. Hence, we expect the online payment facility to become a reality within a month,” said Mr. Bhyrappa.

Bank

At present, only ICICI bank account holders with net banking facility can make property tax payment.

Impact

When launched, the efficiency in tax collection is expected to increase as many registered property owners tend to postpone payment of tax as they loathe standing in lengthy queues.

But the launch of online payment mechanism will obviate the need for the public to stand in queue and finish the payment at the click of a button.

Setback

Meanwhile, the MCC plan to augment its revenue by bringing the mobile towers under tax-net, has received a setback. Mr. Bhyrappa said there was a High Court judgement against it, following which, the MCC was forced to revoke its earlier order making it mandatory to collect Rs.12,000 a tower as property tax.

Resource-base

The MCC had viewed the mobile towers as a “resource base which could be tapped to enhance its revenue collections. The MCC had argued that owners of vacant sites and those permitting installation of mobile towers on rooftops were doing so by charging exorbitant rent from the mobile service providers and hence it was a commercial transaction.

But, they were not paying any tax to the MCC. Mr. Bhyrappa said the court order had restrained them from implementing it.

Advertisement rates

In the meantime, the MCC has revised the advertisement rates to shore up its revenue.

The hike in tariffs is almost double but the rates vary from area to area depending on their commercial importance. In Zone A, the advertisement rate is Rs.70 a sq. ft. of hoarding, up from the earlier rate of Rs. 35 a sq. ft.

Target

The MCC aims at collecting Rs. 90 crore by way of property tax this fiscal against which, it had collected Rs. 45 crore so far. Besides, Rs. 20 crore arrears due from last year was pending collection.

Originally mooted in 2010, the proposal could not be introduced owing to technical reasons

Implementation of new system expected to augment property tax collection

 

Graduates apply for MCD jobs that pay Rs.7,000 per month

Wednesday, 06 August 2014 11:38 administrator
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The Hindu      06.08.2014  

Graduates apply for MCD jobs that pay Rs.7,000 per month

Waiting to hear back from a prospective employer can be a stressful experience for anyone. But, those who are clearly over-qualified for the job should be able to relax. Not Nita (name changed). The 27-year-old holds an M.A. in Hindi and has applied for a school attendant’s post in a municipal corporation. The job entails taking care of students and helping out teachers, and pays minimum wage, which is Rs.7,722 per month for un-skilled workers.

“I want to be a teacher, but getting a government job isn’t easy. I don’t have any other option this time because this would be my first job,” she said.

She had applied for the post, which requires Class X qualification, with the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. Thousands of applications for 270 posts of school attendants and 95 posts of nursery ayahs were handed in from May 29 to June 4.

“This is the first time in over a decade that we have advertised such vacancies, so the number of applicants is high. Till now, we have been able to process 15,000 applications and it will take another month to know the exact number,” said North Corporation Education Director Jasram Kaim.

He explained that there were many others like Nita who were over-qualified for the jobs. “We have got graduates who have applied for the nursery ayah’s post,” he added. But, he said, the applicants with higher qualifications will not be given any extra credit for the same.

Senior municipal officials said they could only set minimum qualification criteria and not the maximum. South Delhi Municipal Corporation spokesperson Mukesh Yadav said: “Usually, when we conduct recruitment for group D jobs, most of the applicants are over-qualified.”

Stories repeat themselves

Inadequate employment for the thousands of new graduates joining the Capital’s workforce every year, plus the perceived security of government jobs, means that the next time there are vacancies in the municipal corporations, Nita’s story will repeat itself.

I want to be a teacher, but getting a government job isn’t easy. I don’t have any other option this time because this would be my first job

 

VMC plans to revise property tax

Wednesday, 06 August 2014 11:35 administrator
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The Hindu       06.08.2014 

VMC plans to revise property tax

Proposals likely to be submitted at the council meeting today

The cash-starved Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is planning to revise property tax for both residential and commercial properties in the city. Authorities are likely to present the proposal during the first meeting of the VMC council slated on Wednesday.

There are 13 residential and commercial zones in the corporation limits and authorities launched a pilot survey in three circles – 1, 18 and 32 on how to go about the property tax revision. The hike, according to sources, is expected to be considerable depending on the zone and different parameters like slum areas, nature of construction, residential and commercial structures.

At present, the corporation generates annual property tax revenue of Rs.74 crore and the proposed revision is expected to net another Rs.30 crore. Authorities list out a few reasons for the need to revise property tax.

The main reason cited behind the proposed revision is rising expenditure and declining revenues. The annual revenue generated by the corporation is Rs. 220 crore, while its expenditure has already crossed Rs. 270 crore. This apart, the corporation has contracts payment dues to the tune of Rs.100 crore, ESI and PF payments.

Actually, property tax has to be revised for five years. It was last revised in 2002 and since then there has been no revision for different reasons – administrative and political. Though it is essential to revise the tax, much will depend on council’s approval, says a senior official of VMC.

But even before the authorities could think about presenting the proposal, there is strong opposition from residents. “A few corporators are discussing about the issue but authorities should think again about the proposal. Prices of essential commodities are already sky rocketing and this will be an additional burden on residents. We will oppose it,” says V. Sambi Reddy, president of Tax Payers Association.

 
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