KMC’s revenue collection till Dec 31 stands at Rs 900 crore

KOLKATA: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has collected revenue worth Rs 900 crore till December 31, 2022, while it is also offering several opportunities for property tax reduction.

A senior KMC official said that the civic body had set a collection target of Rs 1200 crore for the financial year 2022 to 2023.

“Till December 31, we have collected about Rs 900 crore. We are hopeful that we will meet the target by March 31, 2023,” he said.

KMC was facing a revenue crunch due to property tax dues and meeting the target will help the civic body in increasing its expenditure towards projects that will benefit the taxpayers, added the official. Further, in a bid to increase its revenues, KMC is also offering tax reduction opportunities. KMC sources said that tax reduction can be availed in cases of heritage properties under the ‘A’ category. Additionally, the reduction will also be applicable on vacant properties within five to 20 acre and above 20 acre.

KMC is also extending this reduction policy in cases of greenery around properties.

This measure was taken to encourage urban forestry, an initiative Mayor Firhad Hakim has emphasized repeatedly while talking about the restoration of greenery within the city.

In this case also, the tax reduction can be availed for green space between five to 20 acres and above 20 acres.

The Millennium Post, early this month, highlighted that the KMC is thinking of reducing tax on commercial properties that came up after 2017.

According to KMC sources, this initiative is to ensure a steady influx of revenues. Sources said that the proposal was drawn up at a member-mayor-in-council meeting and will be forwarded to the state Secretariat for approval.

Mayor Firhad Hakim has said that the civic body would do all to ensure citizens can deposit taxes on time and assured that there will be no increase in taxes since property tax percentage is already capped under the unit area system of taxation.

Taxes can neither be increased above 20 per cent nor lowered below 20 per cent.