With the Supreme Court (SC) rejecting its review petition in March this year, the BMC will have to rework the capital values of all properties in Mumbai. It might also have to refund thousands of crores of rupees to taxpayers who have paid property tax from 2010 to 2012 on the basis of the capital value system. This complication has delayed the bills issued to owners in May every year.
The BMC’s review petition had challenged the Bombay High Court order of 2019 setting aside certain rules for retrospective tax assessment. As per the SC’s direction, the BMC has to frame new rules and issue fresh bills to taxpayers. The court has also quashed the special assessment order and bills raised under the new system from 2010, necessitating a refund or adjustment of the excess amount collected from citizens.
A civic official said that it won’t be possible to refund thousands of crores of rupees so they have requested the state government to make amendments to the BMC Act. The procedure will take at least another month, following which property tax bills can be issued in August, he said.
However, the delay has already affected the property tax collection in the last three months. As per data, Rs260 crore of revenue has been earned from property tax from April 1 to July 16 this year. The BMC earned around Rs399 crore in the same period last year.
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