80% of property tax collected in Visakhapatnam, says GVMC Commissioner

₹320 crore of tax has been collected from all eight zones in the city against the demand of ₹401 crore; there are around 5.54 lakh assessees in the city

About 80% property tax (including vacant land tax) has been collected by Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) as on Monday for the current financial year 2022-23. An amount of ₹320 crore of tax has been collected from all eight zones against the demand of ₹401 crore. There are around 5.54 lakh assessees in the city.

“We have collected around ₹2 crore till Monday afternoon. We will be able to meet the remaining 20% demand by March 31,” GVMC Commissioner P. Rajababu told The Hindu.

Earlier this month, the GVMC also waived interest on pending dues. Through this offer, the GVMC has estimated that it will net another ₹200 crore. There will be no 2% interest on pending dues under this offer.

“We have announced the interest-free offer from March 15. We are getting positive feedback from people. We already informed about it through various forms of campaigns, including door-to-door communication through the volunteer system,” said a GVMC revenue official.

People can pay the tax through online mode or at Soukaryam centres. Five special counters were opened at the GVMC head office, and one centre at each zonal office.

The current year’s collected tax (from April 1 to March 20) of ₹320 crore is almost equal to the entire amount of the last fiscal’s (2021-22) tax collection. The corporation collected ₹324 crore (from April 1 to March 31) against the demand of ₹350 crore last year. By March 20, only ₹258.68 crore was collected in 2022, and ₹320 crore in 2023, the GVMC revenue sources informed.

The GVMC is levying the tax based on the new tax system that was introduced in 2021. The tax is collected on market price of the property against the old method of calculating tax based on rental value of the property.