Tamil Nadu   

Panchayat chiefs asked to improve tax collection

Special Correspondent

Irregularities in classification of properties

VELLORE: Vellore Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadav has urged the presidents and vice-presidents of the town panchayats to take immediate steps to improve collection of property and other taxes to augment revenues of the local bodies for improving the basic amenities.

Presiding over a training programme organised by the Assistant Director of Town Panchayats, Vellore Region, for the newly elected presidents and vice-presidents here on Monday, the Collector said that the income of the town panchayats was too low in view of low assessment and poor collection over the years. The town panchayats had collected only 42 per cent of the property tax due for the half-yearly period ending September 30, 2006 and only 68 per cent of the water tax due for that period.

There were several irregularities in the classification of the various properties owing to wrong declaration by the property owners. Commercial property had been declared as residential property, while rental houses had been declared as owner-occupied houses.

The Collector, therefore, called upon them to check such irregularities and streamline the assessment and the taxes. He advised the local body functionaries not to shy away from increasing the assessment of the tax based on realistic considerations for fear of becoming unpopular among the people. By using the taxes properly for improving the basic amenities of the people, the local body chiefs would earn a good name, he pointed out.

He suggested that the town panchayats tie up with banks to enable the residents to remit the taxes through them, without waiting for the bill collectors to do the job.

Many people had credit cards and power pay accounts, and the town panchayats could encourage them to pay the taxes on-line as well. The details of the tax arrears should also be hosted in the district website or the town panchayat website, he said. P. Thiruvengadam, Assistant Director of Town Panchayats welcomed the gathering.

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