The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has achieved only 29% of the target set for property tax collection this financial year which is coming to an end soon.
According to the Andhra Pradesh Municipal Revenue Dashboard, the VMC has set a target of collecting ₹341.74 crore tax from the property owners in the city. As of Wednesday, only ₹99.14 crore has been collected.
During the corresponding period in the 2020-21 financial year, the civic body collected ₹92.09 crore even as the year was hit by the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Seven percent more tax was collected this fiscal so far when compared to that of the last financial year.
Collection of property and water taxes was also hit at the beginning of the current fiscal year as the second wave of the pandemic peaked in April and May last year.
Only 39.6% of the proportional demand of water charges has been collected in the city so far. A sum of ₹59.37 crore is expected to be collected. By Wednesday, only ₹23.49 crore was collected. During the corresponding period last fiscal year, ₹24.51 crore was collected.
Top defaulters
A majority of the tax defaults in the city are related to the tax levied on vacant land and most of the defaulters are State and Central government institutions.
The top tax defaulters in the city, according to the dashboard, include Dargah Hazarat Galib Shaheed which has ₹19.5 crore pending since 2012-13 fiscal year. The School of Planning and Architecture has ₹7.45 crore due as vacant land tax since 2016-17 fiscal year, followed by Tripura Sundari Cotton Press (₹3.81 crore), R&B Department SE Circle Office (₹3.71 crore), Railway SP Office (₹3.32 crore), Government Polytechnic College (₹3.12 crore), V.V. Rama Krishna (₹3.04 crore), Industrial Area Local Authority (₹2.46 crore), D.R. Koteswara Rao (₹1.91 crore) and Yalamanchili Nageswara Rao (₹1.77 crore).
