Pune: PMC collects Rs 750 crore property tax in two months

The civic administration sent tax bills to property owners in the city from the first day of the financial year, April 1.

“Owners of around five lakh properties have paid their tax till now. The PMC has been able to collect Rs 751.31 crore till May 27. It is Rs 190 crore more than the previous year’s collection of Rs 560.34 crore during the same period,” said Ajeet Deshmukh, incharge of the PMC’s property tax department.

The PMC provides a discount of 10 per cent for paying the bills for a financial year by May 31 along with an accidental insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh for maintaining no dues. It starts charging a penalty of two per cent per month from July 1 for those not paying the taxes on time. Deshmukh said that the PMC has so far provided a discount of Rs 16.60 crore to regular taxpayers this year.

The online payment facility has got a good response with Rs 466 crore of the Rs 751 crore being deposited through it while Rs 214 crore was paid through cheque deposits and Rs 70 crore through cash transactions, said officials.

The PMC has appealed to all the taxpayers to clear their dues by May 31 to avail discount in the property tax for the current year. However, many citizens have been complaining of getting exorbitant bills without any intimation from the civic body. The outgoing elected general body of the PMC had rejected the proposed hike in the property tax.

Meanwhile, the PMC has also started collecting taxes from properties in the 23 villages that were recently merged into the civic limits.