With a view to collecting tax dues amounting to almost Rs 17 crore swiftly from residents, government and private institutions, the English Bazaar municipality in Malda has decided to offer big rebates on the same.
It is learnt that the interest accrued on the due taxes will be waived off by the civic body for speedy recovery of the money that will be used for celebration of the 150th year of the EBM. In case of long-term tax dues, the civic body will be offering further rebates on the taxes, officials said.
According to officials of the municipality, collection of taxes since the past seven years has been very poor, while it has been affecting development programmes of the civic body.
According to the municipality, the dues from almost 40,000 holding numbers in the last financial year was around Rs10 crore, which has mounted up to Rs 17 crore this year. Almost Rs 7 crore is yet to be collected from individuals, cinema halls, hotels etc, while the rest from government offices, including six holding numbers directly under the district magistrate of Malda, sources claimed.
“The Malda division, highway authority and BSNL have dues amounting to Rs 50 lakh. Some government organizations have, however, paid some dues, but in the case of individuals and private enterprises, the picture has remained the same and the amount of due taxes has reached up to Rs 17 crore, excluding charges counted in the month of May 2018, resulting in the civic body to think of some waivers for speedy recovery of the funds,” administrative sources said.
The chairman of the civic body, Nihar Ranjan Ghosh, said they are making tax payment easier for the people so that residents do not hesitate or fear long queues in the office. “Online payment of taxes through a mobile application has already started, and we hope for a positive outcome,” he said. On the other hand, vice-chairman of the EBM, Dulal Sarkar, maintained that the decision has being implemented in order to mark 150 years of the municipality.