Margao civic body to recover Rs 5 crore in house tax arrears

MARGAO: The Margao Municipal Council (MMC) aims at recovering over Rs 5 crore by way of house tax arrears. The civic body has now begun sending demand notices to defaulters whose arrears exceed Rs 25,000.

MMC chief officer Siddhivinayak Naik said that over 500 units, both residential and commercial, have been identified whose arrears have exceeded Rs 25,000.

“There is a large number of defaulters whose arrears are between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1 lakh. Then there are those whose outstandings are between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 9 lakh. We will easily be able to recover over Rs 5 crore from them,” Naik said.

The names of these defaulters will also be displayed at the entrance to the municipality building, Naik said. Banks and commercial establishments are among the major defaulters of house tax.

Naik said those ignoring the demand notices will have to face the prospects of disconnection of water and power supply to their premises.

Persistent drives by the MMC against trade tax evasion earlier this year had set the MMC’s cash registers ringing in the last fiscal.