If the civic body has its way, property tax defaulters may not be able to evade paying their dues easily. In a move to ensure that money reaches its coffers, the cash-strapped Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is working on a system that will allow it to attach bank accounts of property tax defaulters.
Confirming the development, BBMP’s Special Commissioner (Revenue) R.L. Deepak told The Hindu that the new system is likely to be in place before the end of the current financial year. “It will be similar to the one that already exists in the Income Tax Department,” he said.
Property tax is one of the major revenue sources for the BBMP. The civic body has set a target of collecting ₹4,000 crore as property tax in the current 2021-22 financial year. Thus far, it has been able to mop up around ₹2,800 crore, which is around 70% of the target. However, arrears (including current demand and pending from previous financial years) itself account for around ₹2,600 crore.
Mr. Deepak said as per the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, the civic body could only issue distress warrants and attach moveable properties of the tax defaulters. “We cannot collect revenue by auctioning chairs and tables. We need a better and robust system in place,” he said.
However, under the BBMP Act, 2020, the civic body can not only issue distress warrants, it can attach both moveable and immoveable property, apart from attaching the bank account of the defaulter. “We are working on putting in place a procedural mechanism. We are confident of putting in place by March,” he said and added that the civic body has already prepared a list of defaulters, including the number of years of unpaid tax, penalty and interest due to BBMP.
Zonal revenue officials have been instructed to issue distress warrants and recover dues from the defaulters. Recently, revenue officials from BBMP’s Yelahanka zone issued distress warrants to a tech park, a private university and owner of a marriage hall.
Mr. Deepak said that efforts are also being made to ensure all new properties are brought under the tax net. “As and when new properties come up, there are set procedures in place to bring these into the tax net. However, there may be certain procedural or time delays, especially in the new areas,” he said and pointed out that there were over 19 lakh properties under the BBMP’s tax net.