NEW DELHI: Terming it a Diwali gift, lieutenant governor VK Saxena on Tuesday announced an amnesty scheme for residential and commercial property owners in authorised and regularised colonies, urging them to pay only the outstanding principal amount of the last five years and get a waiver on interest, penalty and all previous dues. Named Samriddhi 2022-23 (Strengthening and Augmentation of Municipal Revenue for Infrastructure Development in Delhi 2022-23), the LG said the scheme would provide a huge relief to property owners and encourage them to get rid of their long-pending tax disputes and related harassment. “The waiver of tax liability means more money in the hands of taxpayers and more revenue for MCD, thereby enabling it to undertake civic infrastructure work for better service delivery to people. This scheme brings prosperity (samriddhi) to all stakeholders,” said the LG. A separate amnesty scheme was launched by MCD in September, which covers all properties in unauthorised, unauthorised-regularised, lal dora, extended lal dora, extended abadi of villages and those allotted to Kashmiri migrants by the government. The amnesty scheme covers all properties situated in planned, unauthorised, unauthorised-regularised, lal dora, extended lal dora, extended abadi of villages and those allotted to Kashmiri migrants by the government. “The scheme will also widen the tax base, enable taxpayers to settle their dues in a proper manner and enable MCD to build a proper database by being pragmatic with respect to enforcement of long-pending dues,” the LG said. Officials said the scheme was conceived after deliberations spearheaded by the LG aimed at solving thousands of pending court cases that were a source of consternation for people as well as MCD from 2004. Starting October 26, the scheme will continue till March 31, 2023. Owners of residential properties can now pay the principal amount of tax of the last five years (since 2017-18) and get full waiver of interest, penalty and all previous dues. Owners of non-residential properties can pay the principal tax amount of the last six years (since 2016-17) and enjoy similar waivers. However, those who have cleared their dues before the launch of the scheme will not be entitled to the benefits. If the dues paid by taxpayers have not been captured in the MCD tax data, they can submit the proof of payment to get the records updated, but their cases will not be reassessed and reopened. “If a taxpayer fails to settle his dues by March 31, 2023, he shall be liable to pay the entire amount along with all interest and penalties. MCD will start coercive measures to collect the tax dues from defaulters from April 1, 2023. To avail of the scheme, taxpayers will have to apply in the prescribed form online and pay the dues,” said an official. Senior officials said MCD would scrutinise all tax payments within one year from the date of payment and the benefits would be withdrawn if the wrong amount is found paid by willful suppression or misrepresentation of facts. “However, the civic agency can raise any discrepancy in calculation of tax within a period of one year from the receipt of the application. The case will be deemed closed after that,” said an official.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/lg-announces-property-tax-amnesty-scheme/articleshow/95086269.cms