Karnal civic body expedites process for recovering tax from defaulters

The Karnal Municipal Corporation (KMC) has intensified the process of recovering property tax from defaulters, with Rs 350 crore as dues. The corporation has prepared a list of the defaulters and initiated the process of serving notices to expedite recovery.

Rs 350 crore pending

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• As much as Rs 350 crore tax is pending out of the target of recovery of Rs 25 crore
• So far, the civic body has collected Rs 6.36 cr, while last year it had collected Rs 21.92 crore

As per the data collected by The Tribune, there are 18,470 tax payers in the city. The property tax branch has identified 132 defaulters with dues exceeding Rs 50 lakh and 68 defaulters owing between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 50 lakh each, 204 defaulters owing between Rs 10 lakh and 20 lakh each and 305 owing default amount between Rs 5 lakh and 10 lakh each.

Earlier also, the property tax branch had issued notices to the defaulters and some establishments were sealed. Despite several warnings and deadlines issued to the tax defaulters, the municipality has managed to recover only a fraction of the outstanding amount.

Around Rs 350 crore tax is pending, out of target of a recovery of Rs 25 crore, so far, the MC has collected Rs 6.36 crore, while last year it had collected Rs 21.92 crore.

MC Commissioner Dr Vaishali Sharma has already instructed the property tax division to expedite the recovery process from the defaulters, especially those with outstanding dues exceeding Rs 50 lakh. She also directed that the properties of the non-compliant defaulters should be seized if they failed to pay their dues promptly.

“I have directed the property tax branch to expedite the recovery process immediately targeting defaulters who have already been served notices. The officials have been asked to achieve the target,” said Sharma.

She said some government offices had started paying their dues. The Fisheries Department had paid Rs 20 lakh, and the HAFED office had deposited Rs 6 lakh as property tax. “Discussions are going on with other departments, and officials are personally delivering letters urging them to clear their dues,” said the Commissioner.

About property ID creation for properties in the Lal Dora areas, 160 objections have been received after their IDs were uploaded on the NDC portal and the Karnal MC website. A committee has been formed to address these objections and correct any errors. Sharma stressed that all objections must be resolved promptly and in compliance with the Right to Service (RTS) Act.

Sharma reiterated that all objections should be handled transparently, with no improper reversals.