The early bird incentive scheme rolled out by the property tax department of the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has been witnessing an encouraging response from taxpayers in the twin-city. The incentive scheme offered discounts amounting five and three percent discount for those who opted to clear their property taxes on or before 30, June and on or before 331, July respectively.
Over 50% payment Through Digital Methods
In the first two months of the current fiscal, the tax department managed to collect over Rs 21.53 crore till 6, June. Notably, there has been a surge in collections through digital modes of payments, including links on the municipal website (mbmc.gov.in/property) and mobile application (MyMBMC) facilitated by the civic administration. Out of the total collection so far, Rs 10.81 crore (a little above 50 per cent) has been received from 20,314 through digital modes of payment.
As per statistics, the assessed number of properties in the twin city is currently pegged at around 3,68,501, including 63,498 commercial and 3,05,003 residential units. Last year nearly 1.60 lakh citizens had availed the early bird offer which led to the recovery of 7.43 crore in the corresponding period. One of the major revenue generators for the MBMC, property tax collections amounting 280 crore has been projected for the current fiscal. However, the administration is skeptical about the projections and expects realistic collections limited between 225 to 230 crore.
Civic Chief Urges Citizens To Avail Offer
The MBMC aims to focus on three major points including continuous tax collection, comprehensive property survey and verification of information to weed out thousands of “ghost” entries from its property tax registry. “More and more citizens should avail of the discount offer by clearing the tax dues on time and help in the all-round development of the twin city,” appealed municipal commissioner Dilip Dhole.
This is the second consecutive year of the early bird scheme offering discounts to regular taxpayers. Earlier it had become an annual tradition for the administration to dole out huge rebates only to defaulters under the garb of amnesty schemes.
