SDMC collects Rs 944 cr in property tax; exceeds target 4th year in a row

New Delhi: The South Delhi Municipal Corporation's Department of Assessment and Collection exceeded its property tax collection target by Rs 144 crore for the financial year 2018-19. This is the fourth year in a row that SDMC

has exceeded its collection target for property tax. Property taxes constitute a majority of revenue collection by the municipality.

Exceeding its target of collecting Rs 800 crore, the department collected Rs 944 crore in property tax as of March 31, leading to a 36 per cent increase in collections compared to the Rs 694 crore collected last financial year. The municipality announced that the number of taxpayers also saw an increase of 7.06 per cent, with an additional 31,223 assessees added to SDMC's list.

In a statement issued by the municipality, Commissioner Puneet Kumar Goel said that the department strived to work harder in order to surpass the 900 crore mark so that SDMC localities could be developed further on the lines of smart city initiatives. SDMC, in the statement, said that the target for 2018-19 was initially set at Rs 715 crore, which was later revised to Rs 800 crore.

Commissioner Goel added that these staggering collection records came from

large scale developmental projects being implemented and that this record collection

will be further put to use in order to modernise SDMC localities.

In addition to the efforts of municipality workers, Assessor and Collector Rahul Garg said that the department had undertaken various measures to make sure property taxes were collected before the stipulated deadline. He said that SDMC had organised 637 camps for assessees to apprise them of deadlines and procedure of property tax filing. Garg added that the municipality will focus on digitising property tax filing procedures, making it easier on both the collecting authorities and taxpayers.