Mumbai: Congress corporator questions BMC inaction against builders evading property tax

Former Congress corporator and former opposition leader of the BMC, Ravi Raja has written a letter to BMC administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal and brought to his notice that many prominent builders in the city have been avoiding paying property tax. Questioning inaction on part of the civic body, he said nearly Rs 1,500 crore is yet to be received by it from builders.

After the Centre’s imposition of GST, Raja said the octroi tax system had come to an end and the BMC had started facing a financial crunch. To supplement its revenue, the BMC has, therefore, started emphasising on property tax collection. In the 2021-22 budget, the BMC had decided to collect tax worth Rs 7,000 crore but in reality it could collect only Rs 4,750 crore.

Raja said, “If a common citizen fails to pay property tax, the BMC takes action against him; even cutting the water connection of such people. In some cases, the BMC auctions their property. It has been seen that the civic body sends notices to Metro railway, but why has no action been taken against builders who frequently evade taxes?”

He also said during the Covid-19 lockdown, many businesses had closed down and several construction works came to a grinding halt for several months. To support builders, the BMC had given 50 per cent concession in premium to builders. “Yet, many builders evaded tax payment this year. Even BMC officers haven’t tried to collect property tax,” alleged Raja, further demanding that BMC officers should declare how many notices have been issued to builders and how many water connections of builders have been cut so far.