COIMBATORE: The revenue officials of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) are yet to release their annual report of overall tax collected in the just-ended 2023-24 financial year from April 1 to March 31. They are reportedly reluctant to release it in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election in the state on April 19.
The local bodies collect revenue through different types of taxes including the property tax, water tax, vacant land tax, underground drainage tax, solid waste user charges, professional tax and other non-tax revenues. Based on the revenue generated by the civic body, development works and new projects are planned.
The revenue projections and collections during a financial year is crucial for budgeting, tax assessment, and evaluating the overall financial health of an entity.
In view of this, the civic bodies release the overall tax collection data of the recently concluded financial year on April 1, every year. However, unlike previous years, the CCMC has not released its overall tax collection data for the five zones in the city on Monday. Sources said that the civic body has not revealed the overall tax collection figures due to various reasons including poor tax collection and owing to the upcoming parliamentary election. It’s to be noted that, CCMC had secured the first place for the highest tax collection in Tamil Nadu in the previous FY, 22-23. But as the figures might have dropped this time, the CCMC has not released the data yet, added sources.
CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran told TNIE, “Our tax collection figures have improved a lot this year. We have collected over 92% of the current year’s tax demand. And with the election approaching this year, we feel sharing the overall tax collection figures now might not be the right thing to do. We shall take a call on it soon.”