Non-payment of the property of house tax has serious consequences. It can lead to a penalty legal consequences or both. It can also cause serious trouble if you sell the property later. The department recently said that they are planning to seize the property and valuables of the property tax defaulters.
On 20th February, Sangita Hasnale, the assistant municipal commissioner of BMC, said that firstly, their target will be commercial buildings but after that, they will be aiming for the residential ones. They announced that they would be seizing the valuables like furniture, paintings, and other stuff from the defaulters.
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The property tax or house tax is imposed on the owners of properties by the municipal authorities. The reason for collecting the house tax is to spend the collected amount on the maintenance of roads, footpaths, parks, and sewer systems among others.
Who is Liable to Pay?
Any individual owning any kind of property whether commercial or residential is required to pay the tax. However, certain property owners are exempt according to the rules of different MCs. Agriculture landowners, senior citizens, etc. are exempt from this.
How to Pay House Tax?
There are different periods for which the tax is charged by different authorities. Some charge annually while others are half-yearly. You can pay the tax to the authorities through various bank branches or online payments for house tax.
Tax Rate
This tax is calculated after considering various factors like locality, size of the property, age of the property, and much more. Basically, it is calculated on the base of the annual rental value of the property. However, different Municipal Authorities use different approaches for the calculation. Thus the tax rates vary in different cities. You can calculate your tax liability with the help of calculators available on different municipal corporations.
Why Should We Pay Property Tax?
The general human conduct says that you should pay the property tax as the salaries of various workers like sweepers, gardeners and sewer cleaners come from the property taxes. Moreover, the money collected from the property taxes is used for maintaining the municipal property around your house. So you should pay the property tax. If you are still unconvinced, you should know the consequences that come with the nonpayment of municipal taxes.
In the case of late or non-payment of property tax, you will have to pay a penalty along with an interest charged on the amount due. Different rates are levied by different authorities.
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Rajiv Mishra, a Delhi-based advocate said that initially, the MC gives a show-cause notice for collecting the dues but if someone still does not pay his share of property tax then the Delhi Municipal Corporation has the power to recover the tax under Sections 155 and 156 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 but such steps are taken in extreme cases only.
Additionally, you can also serve prison for non-compliance with the property tax norms. Non-payment of property house tax can also result in problems while selling the property further. Nobody is interested in purchasing a property that has controversial issues with it. The buyer will be asking you to clear any previous due before shaking hands over it.
If you are paying the property tax regularly then you should always collect and save the receipts of payments as they will be helping you during the sale of the property. So make regular property tax payments and live carefreely.
