Coronavirus hits MCC Property Tax collection

• All Zonal Offices closed due to lockdown; no revenue generation since Mar. 25
• No five percent rebate and no online tax payment facility until further notice

Mysore/Mysuru: Amidst reports that India’s real estate market will see a significant price correction — prices may come down by 10 percent to 30 percent — for the first time in a decade as the Coronavirus pandemic stalls businesses across the country, the killer virus has affected Property Tax Collection in Mysuru City Corporation (MCC). 

The Civic Body is unable to collect Property Tax as physical tax collection counters at various MCC Zonal Offices in city have been closed due to COVID-19 scare and the lockdown. Even the online collection has been hampered as the MCC is yet to get Government green signal. 

We are in the month of April and the MCC is yet to launch its usual 5 percent rebate to property owners who pay their yearly Property Tax in full in the month of April. In the previous years, the MCC used to offer 5 percent rebate during the month of April to all property owners who want to pay their yearly tax. This year, the MCC had also promised that it will introduce online Property Tax payment system to enable property owners to pay tax from the comforts of their homes.           But this ambitious scheme too is yet to take off.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, MCC Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Kumar Nayak said that the MCC Commissioner wrote a letter to the Government on Mar. 27 seeking permission to introduce online tax payment system and the 5 percent tax rebate. But the MCC is yet to get a reply from the Government in this regard, with the entire State coming to a standstill following the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, he said.

“We have not been able to collect any revenue through any of our means since Mar.25 because of the lockdown. We had expected revenue of Rs.60 crore in April this year through collection of Property Tax, as most property owners of the city prefer to make use of the 5 percent rebate. But now, all expectations have gone for a toss and we are hoping to generate revenues once the lockdown ends,” he said. 

No tax rebate until further notice: Asserting that there will be no 5 percent property tax rebate and no online tax payment facility until further notice, Kumar Nayak said that the public need not go the Zonal Offices  for payment of Property Tax, as all of them have been shut due to the lockdown.