4,000 citizens pay property tax on Day 1

BANGALORE: On day one, over 4,000 property tax owners paid tax through self assessment scheme (SAS) for this financial year. A press release from Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said property owners can avail 5 per cent rebate on full payment of tax if paid before April 30. �

Tax payers can pay the tax in two installments without penalty or avail rebate, if the first half-year installment is paid between May 1 and 30. The second half-year installment can be paid between October 1 and November 29. From November 30, a penalty of 2 per cent on the tax amount will be levied every month on late payment. BBMP has assigned unique property identification (PID) numbers to identify properties through geographical information system (GIS).

This system will also help public assess the tax amount they have to pay. Through Property Identification (PID) numbers, a combination of ward, street and property numbers, BBMP has identified 16.19 lakh properties in the city, which will be brought under tax net. Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Ramakanth said Palike had collected nearly Rs 1,200 crore tax in the year 2011-12.

“This year, as a result of PID number, more properties will come under tax net. We are expecting an additional Rs 500 crore,” he said. Ramakanth added that the department had planned door-to-door collection drive to collect tax amount from those who had not cleared arrears for the last couple of years. Meanwhile, officials complained that there was a technical glitch while collecting the tax amount on Monday. Reportedly, the server was slow, due to overloading.

However, BBMP IT advisor Sheshadri T, denied there were technical problems. “Probably there were problems in the local network connection. Nearly 10,000 transactions can be done in a day in BBMP's website,” he said. According to Ramakanth, 940 people paid tax online on Sunday. Over 4,000 people paid tax online and at BBMP help centres on Monda. “Collection of tax amount will start at BangaloreOne centres from Monday evening,” he added. Also, this year, tax amount will be collected at all the 54 Assistant Revenue offices.

source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/4000-citizens-pay-property-tax-on-day-1/245230-60-119.html