Revenue crunch: Jalpaiguri Municipality launches drive to collect tax arrears
Jalpaiguri: The Jalpaiguri Municipality has launched a special drive to collect tax arrears as the civic body faces a deficit in tax collection, resulting in difficulty to pay its employees’ timely salaries. Notices have been sent to domestic and government holding numbers, urging them to clear their outstanding taxes, warning of legal action in case of non-payment.
The Jalpaiguri Municipality jurisdiction, spread across 12.97 square kilometers, consists of approximately 24,200 holding numbers in 25 wards, including 200 government holdings. The municipality primarily relies on municipal tax as its main source of income, which funds various activities, including salaries of temporary workers’ and pension for retired workers.
Presently, the municipality spends Rs 47 lakh monthly to pay pension to 323 retired workers and salary of temporary staff.
However, the outstanding tax arrears amount to more than Rs 10 crore, with Rs 8 crore from government holdings.
The municipality aims to collect Rs 4 crore from domestic holdings this year. However, only Rs 80-85 lakh has been collected so far. In an effort to increase tax collection, the municipal authorities have already conducted a meeting with the tax collectors from the 25 wards.
Papia Pal, the chairperson of Jalpaiguri Municipality, stated: “Tax money is crucial to pay the salaries of temporary employees and pension. Therefore, special drives are being conducted in each ward to collect taxes. Four wards (2, 4, 15, and 21) lack tax collectors, prompting the municipality to hold special camps in those wards from Monday to Thursday to collect tax.
She also said that many new residents in the municipal area have not completed the mutation process, particularly in housing complexes. New residents will face penalties if they fail to comply within the grace period and legal action will be taken, if necessary.
The municipality is also issuing demand notices in government offices to collect tax arrears, aiming to boost its own funds and facilitate various activities.
