Cuttack: The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has set a Rs 33-crore revenue collection target for the 2017-18 fiscal to finance various developmental projects.
Sources said the Urban Development department has asked CMC to raise its revenue collection as the civic body has been facing financial crunch for several years.
Urban Development department Director Sangramjit Patnaik recently visited CMC office and reviewed its financial status. “The CMC has set a target to collect Rs 33 crore revenue in the current fiscal. We will review the revenue scenario on monthly basis. We have decided to take stern action against tax evaders,” Patnaik said.
CMC commissioner Bikash Chandra Mahapatra said the Millennium City has 58,000 holding tax payers. But the civic body has so far revised the dues of only 28,000 tax payers.
“The holding tax dues on various government entities have been estimated at Rs 15 crore while it is Rs 5 crore in the case of commercial entities. We will constitute a special squad to collect holding tax dues,” Mahapatra said.
According to sources, the civic body has decided to prepare a list of tax defaulters and send it to the Housing and Urban Development department seeking its nod for legal action.
Mahapatra claimed that the CMC has Rs 5 crore hoarding tax dues on various entities. “We will serve notices on the hoarding tax defaulters and ask them to submit their replies. The civic body will take action against people who fail to submit their replies,” Mahapatra added.
CMC sources said the civic body will take steps to collect unpaid house rents from its market complexes. “We have urged the Urban Development department to allocate funds for renovation of CMC market complexes. Shopkeepers usually cite poor maintenance of market complexes for not paying rents,” said Bikash Behera, chairman of CMC standing committee on tax and licence fee.
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