Amnesty scheme, increase in taxpayers helped Delhi civic body

NEW DELHI: Municipal Corporation of Delhi has generated a revenue of Rs 2,417 crore from property
tax in 2022-23, which is highest in the history of the civic body, commissioner Gyanesh Bharti said on
Saturday. Bharti said this while proposing a budget of Rs 16,683 crore at a special house meeting. No hike in taxes
has been proposed except for a proposal to impose professional tax (based on salary slab rates). “The collection from property tax in 2022-23 went up by Rs 400 crore (approx), 20% higher than the collection in 2021-22,” said the commissioner. Highlighting the reasons for the increase, Bharti said the number of taxpayers in 2021-22 was 11,40,515 which increased to 13,29,641 in 2022-23.

“At least 1.32 lakh taxpayers took advantage of our last amnesty scheme, also called Samriddhi Scheme, in 2022-23. The scheme helped us in collecting Rs 700 crore as taxes. Not just that, 50 cases which were pending in various courts for years were resolved after this scheme,” said the commissioner. The collection from transfer duty also increased in 2023-24 to Rs 2,006 crore in comparison to Rs 1,673 crore in 2021-22. In 2023-24, the MCD had proposed a collection of Rs 4,300 crore from property tax and Rs 1,549.9 crore
has been received till November 14, said Bharti. “We are making all efforts to reach that figure. In 2024- 25, the target is Rs 4,300 crore,” he said.

“However, implementing the professional tax will need approval from the Delhi government. Last year,
too, we had proposed the professional tax but it was not approved. That’s why we have proposed Rs 10
lakh collection in budget 2024-25 from this tax in comparison to Rs 50 crore proposed in the 2023-24
budget. If it is approved by the government, we will increase the figure,” said an official. An annual professional tax, ranging from Rs 1200 to Rs 2500 per year, is proposed to be imposed on
working professionals like businessmen, accountants, advocates etc. who are earning more than Rs 5 lakh.
In the budget, a major portion of the expenditure – 25.1% — has been allocated to sanitation, as in previous years, followed by 20.8% for general administration (such as salaries), 18.6% for education and
12.3% for public health and medical relief

However, the total sanitation expenditure of Rs 4,194.7 crore (25.1%) for 2024-25 will be less by around
2% in comparison to Rs 4465.8 crore (27.8%) proposed in 2023-24. The allocation for education has,
meanwhile, increased from 17.7% in 2023-24 to 18.6% in 2024-25. Likewise, the public health and
medical relief head has also seen an increase in fund allocation from 10.7% in 2023-24 to 12.3% in 2024-
25.
For group housing societies earlier, besides the 10% rebate given for advance payment of property tax,
another 10% was refunded in lump sum to the society if 90% of the residents in a society did early
payment. Now, it has been replaced with doing development work equivalent to that amount under the
Sahbhagita Scheme. MCD has, however, removed the cap of Rs 1 lakh (maximum) for doing
development work in societies or residential areas.
“Giving the incentive in the form of a refund was a cumbersome process which is why it is proposed that
the incentive should be paid in the form of development work. An additional 5% tax will be diverted for
doing more development work if people do 100% waste segregation and processing,” said an official.
“Interestingly, from now on, the same norms will be applied to all RWAs, and not just societies, if 90%
collection is done from the area,” said the official. The 10% rebate for advance payment to individuals
will continue.
Leader of the opposition Raja Iqbal Singh criticised the move and said that the discount given on advance
property tax payment by 90% people in society had been reduced from 20% to 10% last year, and now,
the remaining 10% benefit will be used for development work. “That means MCD will not reimburse the money but do development work in areas which is unfair. Also, 80% of the MCD budget will be spent solely on employee salaries while the remaining 20% will be allocated for the development of civic services. So, how will things improve?” he said.