Kolkata: Property tax bills again started knocking the doors of Salt Lake residents in Kolkata. The Bidhannagar municipality is calculating the tax rate on the basis of old valuation of 2005. Earlier the tax collection was held in February when the municipality started collecting the amount for the fiscal years of 2010-11, 2011-12 and arrears from 2007-08, but the collection was put on hold due to the complaints received from residents regarding some confusion over the bills. This time the civic authorities are expecting about Rs. 12 crore from tax collection.
“The new tax bills have been prepared and dispatched. The last date of paying the bills has been fixed on December 31. For those who have already paid their tax earlier this year, the amount will be adjusted in the bills that are being dispatched,” said a civic official.
Civic officials said that they collected a total of Rs. 6.57 crore from the few weeks of tax collection in March before it was withheld. As the property tax were based on the old valuation, many residents started complaining that the tax bills they had received were not matching the pre-2005 rates and are much higher than expected. The civic authorities then took up the issue with urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim following which the minister ordered to stop the collections over allegations of miscalculation.
The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is now making solid amendments, so that it can play the role of a municipality to collect taxes without any complications and disagreements.