North Delhi civic body attaches 80 properties over tax evasion

NEW DELHI: Taking strict action against commercial properties evading property tax or not doing assessment according to Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, North Delhi Municipal Corporation has issued notices to at least 1,244 properties this month. These include prominent hospitals, education institutes and other commercial establishments in areas under Karol Bagh and Civil Lines zones.

The civic body has even attached properties of 80 taxpayers (36 in Karol Bagh and 44 in Civil Lines) for violating norms, and has issued a deadline for taking corrective measures.

The initiative is part of the civic body’s target to crack down on defaulters, bring more people under the property tax net and increase revenue collection.

“This year, we have made some changes in property tax norms. The ‘usage factor’ for rented commercial properties has been changed from 2 to 4. That means the calculated amount of property tax will now be two times higher than the previous amount,” said a north corporation official.

“But during the survey, our teams found that big commercial properties were not paying the tax as per the DMC Act. They were either still using the ‘usage factor’ of 2, or were hiding their activities,” said the official.

The north corporation claims hospitals and other commercial institutes owe an additional Rs 20 crore to it as pending property tax. “We even found some hospitals running educational courses without paying the correct usage factor,” added the official.

Meanwhile, the civic body has also asked private schools and coaching institutions to pay their property tax dues according to new Municipal Valuation Committee guidelines.

The Karol Bagh zone claimed to have collected Rs 88 crore this financial year and has set its target at Rs 210 crore. “People can pay house tax either in zonal offices or online and can also take the benefit of amnesty scheme for waiver of complete interest and penalty, which is valid up to March 2,” said another official.