Property tax proformas,‘jigsaw puzzle’,arrive

A copy of the proforma,which Ludhiana Newsline has accessed,shows a complete riddle to be solved by filling out various columns like collector’s rate,total value,construction cost,depreciation cost and then the total figure as per imposition of the prescribed slab. All this is to be filled out by the residents after applying the formulas which too are not mentioned clearly in the form.

MC claims ‘people adamant to pay tax’

When contacted,P S Ghuman,the MC official heading the project,told Newsline,“People are really adamant to pay tax and the form is not that complicated. People will be helped in filling the form by our employees as 37 teams for the whole city have been formed.”

Ghuman said people could also download these forms from the MC website or collect them from all zonal offices of suvidha centres. A team of 160 employees would be sitting in various areas at a common point to help people fill out the forms of property tax. They could go from door to door,if needed.

MC van to spread awareness: Mayor

Talking to Newsline,Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria said the “MC has arranged for a special van which will move around the city to make people aware of property tax and help them fill out the forms”.

“The van will begin the awareness drive on Tuesday or Wednesday and then there will be no problem in filling forms,” claimed Gohalwaria.

District Congress president Pawan Dewan,however,said that “it is extreme stupidity to expect illiterate section of society to fill these forms and SAD-BJP government is going to fail to collect this jaziya tax”.

“We are already paying water bills,sewerage bills and development charges and others. Then what is the meaning of property tax?” asked Dewan,adding that “a complicated proforma with deep calculations will be instantly rejected by the people”.

Now 10% rebate on tax till Nov 30

Targeting a collection of Rs 200 crore from property tax by March 2014,the MC on Monday extended the rebate period. Now people paying property tax till November 30 will be given 10% rebate while earlier it was till October 31. However,people paying tax after December and till March will get 25% penalty and those paying after March will have to pay 50% of tax amount as penalty.

Cash prizes for MC employees

CASH-STRAPPED Ludhiana MC that does not have money to pay salaries and is taking loans from banks has announced cash prizes for its own employees. The Mayor on Monday told Newsline that “as per the orders of MC Commissioner Rahul Tewari,out of 37 teams,the three teams collecting maximum property tax (in proportion to their area and not total money collected) will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 51,000,Rs 31,000 and Rs 21,000 each”.

Not only this,the best three teams out of a total of 40 made for recovering pending water and sewerage bills would also be honoured,announced the MC on Monday. However,a cash prize for them is still to be decided.