NEW DELHI: House tax defaulters, whose dues run into lakhs of rupees, may find themselves behind bars if they fail to clear the outstanding by year-end.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Saturday set a deadline of December 31 to clear the dues. In a stern warning, the civic body said failure to clear the outstanding amount will result in legal prosecution, including hefty fine and imprisonment of up to 7 years.
“The assessment and collection department of the MCD, after analysing data related to property tax dues, has identified owners whose property tax dues are above Rs 25 lakh. The MCD will soon take legal action against the defaulters and will file prosecution against them. According to the Municipal Act, in case of property tax dues crossing `25 lakh, it may result in punishment of rigorous imprisonment from 3 months to 7 years with a fine of not less than 50% of the amount of tax evaded,” the MCD said.
The civic body said it has created a database of all property owners who have been evading house tax for years after matching property tax database with third party data like property registration, power bills, and GST registration.
Details of all such properties (residential and commercial) have been uploaded on its website. “The onus to file self assessment property tax return lies solely on the property owners. The last date to get UPIC ID is December 31. In case of non submission of correction property tax dues, action in accordance with Municipal Act will be taken,” the civic body said. added.