Open Plot Tax In Nagpur by NMC

Open Plot Tax In Nagpur by NMC

AS AGAINST the record of 2.377 open plois, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has discovered that there are actually 49,915 open plots in the city. Thus, a total of 47.538 open plots have 'surfaced' in the city after the NMC Standing Committee concentrated on property tax maximisation suhsequent to dip in revenue owing to Local Body Tax (LBT) replacing octroi.

"With the number of open plots swelling to 49,915. we can expect an addition of Rs 194 crore to tax revenue of NMC." said Avinash Thakre.Chairmanof NMC Standing Committee. Thakre told reporters on Wednesday that some of the areas were regularised under Gunthewari Act by Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT). Most of the plots were purchased in 1984-85. However, he said. NMC would collect property tax on these plots for a period between 1988 and 2013. "The tax amount on these plots is calculated to be Rs 194.32 crore. The tax has been calculated based on rent charts for the periods 1998-2002 and 2002-2013," he said.

According to Thakre. NV1C now had names and addresses of all the plot-owners with NIT furnishing the same. Based on this, a booklet was being prepared by Standing Committee. On August 16 or August 17. Standing Committee would hand over the booklet with all the details regarding open plots to NMC administration. "This will make the task of the administration easier as far as levying and recovering property tax from plot-owners is concerned." he said.

Already, as per the latest estimates. Standing Committee has expected property lax recovery to be around Rs 380 crore. If the amount of tax to be recovered on open plots - Rs 194.32 crore -- is to he added, the revenue from properly tax alone will rise lo Rs 574.32 crore. Thakresaid. "Now, it all depends on the NMC administration. If it acts swiftly and stans recovery of property tax. it will generate ftrnds for development of the city. Otherwise, only administration will have to be blamed for lack of funds for development." he remarked.

THOUGH Standing Committee has expected tax on open plots to generate additional revenue of Rs 194.32 crore for NMC, recovering this tax will be challenging task for the administration. As the tax will be recovered for a long period of 1988-2013. which is 25 years, each of the plot-owners may have to pay a minimum tax of Rs 25,000/-. Recovering such a huge amount within this financial year will prove to be a challenging task for the NMC administration. How does the civic administration respond to this, remains to be seen.