Property tax payers in three wards of the added areas of Kolkata Municipal Corporation are to get some relief. The civic body has decided to allow relaxations to the old property tax payers of ward numbers 142, 143 and 144.
Notably, the civic body has introduced the unit area assessment system for payment of property taxes under the KMC limits. The three wards of south Kolkata were earlier under Gram Panchayats but were brought under KMC limits in the year 2012. After being included in the KMC limits, the three wards also fall under the ambit of unit area assessment.
In a bid to encourage more residents to pay the property tax, the civic body has decided to allow some oxygen to them. According to sources,theoldtaxpayersof the three wards would have to pay around 10 percent additional tax than that of the existing amount of the Panchayats.
Likewise, the KMC is also considering similar relaxations for property tax payers in other parts of the city. The civic body allows a waiver of 50 per cent on interest and 99 per cent on penalties. The waiver was being offered till the month of September. According to sources, the civic body is mulling over plans to extend the waiver scheme with some modifi- cations and allow relaxations on penalty and interest amount if the property taxes are paid within a stipulated time.