BENGALURU: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has conducted a survey to collect property taxes from residential and commercial properties and to put a stop to tax frauds in the city.
The corporation surveyed many residential and commercial places in the city. According to a survey report, more than Rs 130 crore in property tax was not paid and residential spaces were being used for commercial purposes. The tax for commercial spaces was paid as residential space.
What did the BBMP’s tax survey entail?
- Taxes are divided into residential and commercial taxes; it is higher for commercial spaces.
- The survey is to ensure residential and commercial taxes are collected properly.
- BBMP officials collected information about electricity connections to carry out the survey.
- Revenue officers have physically visited the properties with the power bills in hand. In case of doubt, they checked the property and verified whether it was a commercial or residential property with a photo, added a Google Maps tag, and updated the information.
- Over 25,000 properties have been surveyed; Over Rs 130 crore in taxes has not been paid.
“To increase revenue, we have used the Bescom verification process. In the BBMP’s self-assessment system, we relied on voluntary declaration whether the property is residential or commercial. There was no cross-check. To avoid tax fraud, we have come up with a tax survey where, through data algorithms and geotags, we have found out about the tax fraud. We have verified more than 20,000 properties and we will soon send notices. More than Rs 130 crore had to be paid over the years. We are using technologies to make people pay taxes”, said BBMP Special Commissioner Deepak.