JOIN USMayor N Shanthakumari has directed the revenue officials to recover property tax from major tax defaulters such as marriage halls, commercial buildings, shopping malls and major business establishments.
She held a meeting on Wednesday with the revenue officials to review the progress made in property tax collection. She instructed the officials not to spare any big fish and recover taxes from them. She said these marriage halls, commercial buildings, shopping malls and major business establishments make brisk business by charging heftily but when it comes to payment of property tax, they find ways to escape.
“I've noticed that the poor and the middle class families diligently pay their taxes but these rich and influential people shy evade it. This sends out a wrong message among the law abiding citizens,” said Shanthakumari.
The Mayor told officers to impose huge penalty on the defaulters and if required, cancel their trade licences. She asked them to identify tax defaulters in the area and make them cough up the tax money.
‘Stop pestering taxpayers’
Mayor also pointed out that the revenue inspectors are non-cooperative with the taxpayers at the tax collection centre. The sincere taxpayers are subjected to a lot of harassment only to dig out money from them. There are many such complaints about the revenue inspectors and case workers, she said.