15 September,2020 06:34 AM IST | Mumbai | Prajakta Kasale
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Still waiting for a decision from the state government to waive off property tax for everyone for this year amid COVID-19, the civic body hasn't dispatched bills to Mumbaikars. Now it is in a dilemma on whether or not to dispatch the bills.
Last year, the corporation had delayed the process due to the issue of waiving tax for homes measuring less than 500 sqft. The civic body was expecting '6,768 crore in property taxes in this financial year, which is one-fourth of its total income.
There are around 4.20 lakh property tax payers in the city, including 1.36 lakh having homes measuring less than 500 sqft. Bills to these homes weren't dispatched last year too.
"We sent a proposal to the state government to waive off the property tax for everyone in 2020-21. But there has been no reply from them. We are following it up and that's why bills haven't been dispatched," said a BMC official.
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This is not the first time that the BMC is confused. Last year, it did not dispatch bills till Diwali due to ambiguity in the matter.
In March 2019, the then BJP government gave an approval to amend the Act to effect the waiver. But the government resolution in 2019 only amended section 140 (C) of the Act, which caters to the general tax component, merely 10 to 30 per cent of the total.
The remaining components are water tax, stormwater drainage tax, BMC education cess, state education cess, employment guarantee cess, tree cess, road tax, etc. The decision on these is pending despite three assembly sessions.
Property tax is the second-highest income source of the BMC and contributes to 24 per cent of the income. It has decreased in the last few years.
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