The Municipal Corporation (MC), Karnal, kept its property tax collection counters open on a holiday on Monday to facilitate residents in depositing their pending property tax before the expiry of the Haryana government’s 100 per cent interest waiver scheme.
A large number of residents visited the civic body’s office throughout the day to avail the benefit, with officials expecting more people to deposit their dues on the final day of the scheme on June 30.
The one-time interest waiver scheme, covering the financial years 2010-11 to 2024-25, will remain in force only till June 30.
Under the scheme, taxpayers can clear their outstanding property tax without paying any interest after completing the mandatory self-certification process on the Municipal Corporation’s property tax portal, said Saloni Sharma, Karnal MC Commissioner.
She urged residents not to wait until the last minute and to take advantage of the scheme before the deadline.
“If there is any error in property IDs, taxpayers can raise an objection on the portal, which will be addressed by our team. Once the discrepancies are resolved, the self-certification process can be completed and the taxpayer can avail the interest waiver,” she said.
When asked about the target of property tax, she said that they have fixed a target of Rs 30 crore tax collection during this financial year.
“We will make efforts to achieve the target,” she added.
Sharma added that in the current financial year, the MC has collected a total of Rs 15.33 crore in property tax.
In June alone, Rs 7.77 crore has been collected, while the MC has collected Rs 2.13 crore over the past three days. On Monday alone, the civic body collected Rs 92.75 lakh, she said.
Mayor Renu Bala Gupta also appealed to residents to clear their pending dues within the stipulated period.
“The scheme is providing substantial financial relief to taxpayers while strengthening the MC’s resources for development works,” the Mayor said.
She maintained that revenue generated through property tax is utilised for the maintenance of roads, sanitation, parks, streetlights, drainage and other civic amenities.
The Mayor cautioned that outstanding property tax would attract interest at the rate of 1.5 per cent per month after June 30. She also warned that strict action, including the sealing of properties belonging to major defaulters, would be initiated in accordance with the rules.
Zonal Taxation Officer Ankush Parashar and Tax Superintendent Gagandeep Singh said self-certification on the property tax dues portal is mandatory to avail the interest waiver. They said that assistance is being provided at the Municipal Corporation office as well as ward-level facilitation centres to help taxpayers complete the process without inconvenience.
