5% property tax rebate till June 30

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to extend the benefit of five per cent rebate on property tax till June 30 due to technical glitches, which have prevented many property owners from paying the tax.

The Taxation and Finance Committee passed a resolution in this regard on Saturday. The resolution will be tabled in the BBMP Council meeting on Tuesday for approval.

Committee Chairman M Shivaraju said the software had to be synchronised to fix the tax structure as per the new zoning system for new buildings. It also required a software update to accept the change in the usage of buildings from residential to commercial or commercial to residential, he added. 

The tax collection has decreased drastically due to software-related problems. Many property owners could not pay their taxes due to the difficulties and demanded the BBMP to fix the problems first. The tax collection in May was hardly around Rs 500 crore compared to 1,080 crore last year in the corresponding period. Earlier, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad had said that the KMC Act does not allow a second extension on tax rebate.