Property tax windfall for GHMC

Hyderabad: The cash registers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) haven’t had a break from ringing in the last three months, with the property tax collection racing towards Rs.1,000 crore, which is a record collection for the first quarter of any fiscal year. Already, in the three months of April to June, the civic […]

Hyderabad: The cash registers of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) haven’t had a break from ringing in the last three months, with the property tax collection racing towards Rs.1,000 crore, which is a record collection for the first quarter of any fiscal year.

Already, in the three months of April to June, the civic body has collected a record Rs 929.22 crore as property tax. The tax was collected from 9,08,341 assessments and by the end of July, the collection will cross Rs.1,000 crore, officials said.

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“Within five days i.e. from July 1 to July 5, Rs.6.13 crore has been collected. Thus the tax collected within four months, the first quarter of this financial year, will cross Rs.1,000 crore,” they said.

This is a major jump from the GHMC’s property tax collections compared to the first quarters of the previous two fiscals. From April to June in 2020, the tax collected was Rs 682 crore while in 2021, the same was Rs 620 crore.

In April this year, Rs 741.35 crore was collected under the GHMC’s Property Tax Early Bird Scheme while Rs 71.45 crore was collected in May. June saw a collection of Rs 116.42 crore, taking the total to Rs 929.22 crore so far.

On April 28, when the Property Tax Early Bird Scheme was underway, over Rs 50 crore was collected, the highest tax collected in one day by the civic body under this scheme since it was introduced. After the scheme which offers a 5 per cent rebate on property tax ended on April 30, the highest tax collected was Rs 116.42 crore in June. Many people paid the tax in this month as the interest of 2 per cent per month on the due amount was the penalty if the tax was paid after July 1. Over Rs 43.15 crore was collected on June 30.

Property owners availed the scheme by paying online by visiting the GHMC website (https://onlinepayments.ghmc.gov.in/), through GHMC Citizen Services Centres, MeeSeva Centers and bill collectors. The highest tax collected was from Serilingampally circle followed by Jubilee Hills and Khairatabad.

GHMC officials said more tax being generated was a sign of business establishments and people recovering from losses incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Even after the second wave of Covid-19 ended, for months, when bill collectors visited properties, owners said they could not pay tax due to losses incurred during the pandemic. But this year, many people paid online and they did not seek additional time,” a GHMC official said.