Property tax evasion

IN a startling revelation, technology has revealed that over 75 per cent of the four lakh-odd properties in Ludhiana are outside the tax net. Ludhiana is Punjab’s premier hub for commerce and industry, often dubbed the ‘Mercedes capital of India’ for its big money. But the thriving metropolis hides an ugly fact that a big majority of its property owners shy away from paying taxes. Punjab’s other nine municipal corporations also suffer from the same disorder. According to a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India report, a public library in Bathinda built over two dozens unauthorised shops on the land leased from the municipal corporation and nonchalantly collected rent without paying taxes on the income. Such practices are common in every town and city as tax compliance in India is quite low.

The accent on technology should help conscientious public servants step up efforts to create a society of tax compliance without, of course, bringing a whiff of the inspector raj to the whole endeavour.  A reliance on the irrefutable evidence of technology could be the beginning towards this end. Ostensibly, Punjab’s Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu is doing just that. The geographic information system (GIS) survey of Punjab’s 10 municipal corporations has revealed that the number of property taxpayers has been declining year after year. The same GIS data shows that at least 30 per cent buildings in Bathinda are not even in official records. Corruption, oversight or negligence of such a scale would be impossible if technology is harnessed.

The survey is only the first step. The government now needs to prepare a comprehensive databank of properties and link them with Aadhaar numbers of the respective title-holders. This would expose some of the benami properties, besides persuading all owners to pay taxes. A provision of paying dues in instalments and a one-time amnesty from penalty would be an incentive for law-abiding citizens. Besides, computer-generated tax receipts should be made mandatory for all future sale and purchase of properties to ensure compliance. If the government has the resolve, it has technology at its disposal to curb tax evasion.