Bidhannagar civic body to charge service tax to houses with no holding numbers

The houses which do not have holding numbers but are availing the civic amenities will soon get a Service Tax bill from the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The corporation has started to send such Service Tax bills to around 12,000 households which are not officially a part of the BMC as they do not have to pay property taxes.

By this exemplary effort, the civic body, which once had faced huge problems regarding property tax-related issues, is likely to get an additional revenue of around Rs 25-30 crore.

There are some houses in Mahisbathan and Nayapatti, which have been availing municipal services for years but are not under the property tax bracket. Eyeing on the huge vote bank in those areas, the erstwhile Left Front-led board of Bidhannagar took those areas under the civic body's jurisdiction but never thought about their real development.

The previous Left board, out of political intensions, did not give holding numbers or identity, though the householders started to avail the civic services like water supply, drainage system and waste disposal, without paying property taxes. The Left board thought that vote bank would sail them to victory but were horribly proved wrong in 2010, when Trinamool Congress swept into power getting major vote shares from Bidhannagar's added areas.

The new civic board tried to introduce a new property tax format since then and they are now very near to achieving it. Now, after incurring losses in revenue, the new board tried to bring those people within the tax bracket by sending them Service Tax bill.

"The new format of property tax will come soon as the process of assessment is going on. But we have introduced Service Tax for those people whose properties have not been assessed yet. They will pay Rs 250 per financial quarter as Service Tax. We have already started to send bills," Sabyasachi Dutta, BMC Mayor said while talking to Millennium Post Bidhannagar Municiplaity turned to Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation in 2015 when Baguiati, Kestopur and parts of Rajarhat were brought under it. Most of the houses that still do not pay property taxes are located in ward numbers 28, 27, 15 and 12.

"The erstwhile Left Front board encouraged building promoters to build houses in those areas.

"Now, neither can I find those promoters to question them that why they did not take permission before setting up buildings, nor can I ask those residents to leave the houses. Those people will definitely come within the property tax bracket.

"But for the time being, they have to pay a meager Service Tax to avail civic services," Dutta said.