VIJAYAWADA: With the revenue wing lagging behind in collecting taxes from assessees, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has launched a special drive to mop up property and other tax dues from denizens. The special drive will continue in the coming three months.
According to the VMC officials, tax revenue is vital to meet its escalating expenditure and take up various development projects in the city. For the current fiscal, the civic body has set a target to collect tax to the tune of Rs 176 crore.
By the end of the first half year only Rs 90.94 crores was collected. In particular, the taxes to be collected in respect of vacant plots has been accumulating over the years. Around Rs 64.14 crore pending tax is needed to be collected by the civic body from various organisations between 2000-2022.
Of the total, around Rs 38.40 crore to be collected from individuals and private organisations, while Rs 25.74 crores are to be collected from the Central and State government institutions. Property tax accounts for 50 per cent of the tax revenue. As part of the special drive, an awareness campaign will be organised to motivate the city residents to pay taxes promptly to enable the VMC to take up infrastructure development in the city.
VMC Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) D Venkata Lakshmi said that the revenue officials have decided to realise the revenue target. Notices have been served on multiple occasions to the vacant plot owners, who failed to pay the taxes to the VMC on time.
A focus was laid to augment the pending tax arrears from Central and State government institutions. Property taxes collected this year were higher than last year. Around Rs 90.66 crore was collected from April to September.