AMC ‘forgets’ to tax house for 11years

There is no dearth of cases of tax evasion. But ever heard of ‘tax collection evasion’? Whatever the reason be, the civic body is guilty of it, if an Ambawadi resident is to be believed. Sixty-year-old Deepika Akruwala has been waiting to pay property tax for her apartment in Ambawadi, but she is yet to get a bill for it.

Ironically, even the previous owner never got it. Akruwala’s anxiety is not misplaced. Properties get sealed if their taxes are not paid. “I want to pay my property tax, but nobody from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has visited me even once to assess my apartment despite my complaint. It’s almost a year since I bought this house, but I do not even know what my tenement number or tax due is,” said Akruwala.

It was in March 2018 that she purchased the apartment on the 10th floor of Prasad Tower (registered as Binita Co. Op. Housing Society Ltd. in 2007). She realised that the previous owner had never got property tax bill, nor had AMC even sent an officer for assessment of the apartment. While purchasing the property, she kept aside Rs 25,000 from the purchase value to be paid as pending property tax dues of the previous owner between 2007 and 2018.

Akruwala approached the civic body in April last year for assessment of her apartment. In her complaint on April 4, she requested AMC to take the measurements of her house, based on which the property tax amount could be determined and bill generated. However, 10 months later, nothing has happened of it.

The previous occupant, Hiten Shah, said he had been living there since 2007. “Nobody from the municipal corporation ever came for assessment, and never did we receive any property tax bill,” he said. Interestingly, the other owners have been getting their bills on time.

AMC authorities surprised

Debashish Banerjee, assessor and tax collector at AMC, appeared surprised at the delay in assessment of the house. “The assessment is done at the zonal level by the deputy assessor and tax collector. Usually, it is done within a few months after the structure gets its Building Use (BU) permission,” he said.

When Mirror enquired, a property tax official of AMC’s west zone admitted that Akruwala’s complaint was pending since last April and would be investigated soon. Deepak Patel, deputy assessor and tax collector, west zone, said, “Only illegal constructions are not measured and hence do not get property tax bills. For all legal properties which have their BU permission in place, we issue the bills.” He said it was rare for a property to remain unmeasured.

“It usually takes us maximum of a month to get the measurements after an owner submits the application to get the property measured,” he said. An officer from the property tax department said that once the process of measurement is over, Akruwala will have to pay the tax for the entire period starting 2007, but will not face any penalty. Meanwhile, Akruwala’s wait for her property tax bill continues.