MC clears dues, Admn yet to pay up, owes Rs48 crore

Sandeep Rana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 23

The MC has cleared its pending property tax dues while the UT Administration continues to owe Rs48.33 crore to the property tax branch of the civic body.

In December last year, it was reported that the MC owes Rs3 crore in property tax. Now, the MC has no dues.

The arrears of the Administration are for the period between 2004 (since the MC started levying commercial tax) and February 2021. However, the issue has been continuing despite repeated notices to the Administration.

“We are in talks with the Administration. They are checking the old payments, if any. We will wait till March and then send a revised notice depending on how much amount they will clear by then,” said a senior tax branch officer.

According to the MC, the UT Secretariat, where the Adviser, Finance Secretary, Home Secretary and other top brass of the Administration sit, owes the highest amount of Rs2.16 crore. The Haryana Raj Bhawan has a pending tax of Rs3.18 lakh and the Punjab Raj Bhawan Rs2.70 lakh. The UT Guest House has Rs32 lakh arrears, while the ISBT has Rs2.63 lakh. Several police posts, hospitals, and other buildings under the UT have pending tax to be paid to the corporation.

Vinod Vashisht, convener of the City Forum of Residents Welfare Organisations, said: “MC officials should sit with the UT Adviser and solve the tax issue for once and for all.”

The MC issues a sealing order if the tax of a commercial building is not cleared, but here the civic body is adopting a wait-and-watch policy.