BMP revenue man comes calling

BMP revenue man comes calling
All Properties To Be Measured To Lessen Tax Evasion
The Times of India

Bangalore: Like the taxman, the revenue man too will soon come calling; in search of properties and property tax.
Chastened by citizens ‘duping’ the civic body by declaring wrong property dimensions and their usage to evade taxes, civic authorities have decided to get to the brass tacks. The BMP will go in for physical measurement of each and every property in the city to tackle wrong declarations and to reduce losses in tax accruals.
This effectively translates to: teams of revenue inspectors and ward engineers knocking on every house in Bangalore for measurement of properties.

The survey is necessary as property owners have wilfully given wrong declarations and avoided full payment of property tax, BMP says. For instance, a person builds a house on a 40X60 site, and while paying tax says “self occupied’’. But he/she rents it out to two families. This, the BMP says, amounts to tax evasion. In fact, it should be considered as two properties, it says.

For 2006-2007, BMP officials have set a target of Rs 400 crore as revenue from property tax, as against the present collection of Rs 260 crore. Statistics lend credence to BMP’s hopes: There are approximately 55 lakh properties in Bangalore agglomerate, of which 7 lakh come under the tax net within city limits. If taxes from all of them are realised, the target could easily be met.

But BMP has not set any deadline. Officials say: “We need a complete survey of all properties. Our teams will look for discrepancies between what’s on paper and what’s on ground. Measurement of each and every property is a painful and time-consuming job.”BMP revenue man comes calling