'More efforts are needed to make property tax payment easier'

Bhushan Gagrani the Commissioner and Administrator of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC held an interaction with the officers and employees of the Tax Assessment and Collection Department on MondayDuring the meeting he directed the officials to make property tax collection easier in MumbaiTax revenue is necessary for the development of civic services and facilities provided to Mumbaikars The role of the property owner is also important in maintaining the financial cash flow of the corporation Assessment and collection of property tax is a challenging task considering the topography and density of population of the Mumbai metropolis The officers of the Tax Assessment and Collection Department are doing a good job in overcoming this However more efforts should be made to ensure that the property owners payments are received regularly and on time and the payment of taxes is made easier and convenient said Gagrani He also directed that the commercial properties in the slum areas should be ascertained and brought under tax netGagrani said that property tax is the main source of income of the municipal corporation At present BMCs Tax Assessment and Collection Department has a record of 243989 original properties This includes residential and nonresidential properties Old buildings are being developed in the city Also there is an increase in new properties in the suburbs The municipal corporation has set stages for the valuation of properties It should be implemented effectively Information on all new constructions changes in existing structures and properties if any should be made available by the Building Proposal Building and Factories Department for making necessary changes in taxation For this it is necessary to coordinate between various departments of the Municipal Corporation Gagrani addedHe acknowledged that while BMC has made the process of filing property tax online simple there is scope for further improvement Currently the Mumbai civic body accepts payment through debit and credit cards as well as via net banking UPI and NEFT However more simple options should be provided by the municipal corporation A system should be made available so that citizens do not need to go to the civic facility directly the civic chief said adding that instead of rushing to meet the property tax target at the end of the financial year a timebound programme should be decided at the beginning of the financial yearHe also stated that compared to the other municipal corporations in the country the property tax collection of the Mumbai civic body is remarkable The response of the officers and employees of the Tax Assessment and Collection Department towards the citizens of Mumbai is good said Gagrani hoping that the officers and employees of the Tax Assessment and Collection Department would record better performanceDuring the meeting the officials also discussed on other issues such as seizure and detention of immovable and movable properties awareness generation for payment of taxes recovery of pending property taxes new sources of revenue generation difficulties in tax collection and measures to facilitate the smooth functioning of the department