The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has so far realised ₹32.38 crore in property tax after the announcement of the early bird rebate.
Of the 47,400 assessees that paid the tax, 15,000 are commercial establishments while the rest are residential, Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) of GVMC M.V.D. Phani Ram said.
The collections include vacant land tax too which has been converted to property tax since last year.
During the rebate given in the corresponding period last year, GVMC mopped up ₹56 crore. However, at that time, the ‘Saukaryam’ and ‘Mee Seva’ counters were functioning.
Besides, with the lockdown being in force for over a month, many assessees would have faced issues in payment of tax even if they wanted to benefit from the early bird rebate, officials said.
As of now, unless the State Government announces an extension at the eleventh hour, Thursday is the last day for payment of property tax and getting the 5% rebate.
Assessees have to pay the entire tax for the 2020-21 financial year in one go to avail themselves of the rebate. The tax may be paid at the ‘Saukaryam’ centre at the GVMC main office from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the zone offices of GVMC, including Anakapalle and Bhimili, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. or on gvmc.gov.in.
Mr. Phani Ram said two IT personnel of GVMC have been exclusively tasked to ensure the smooth functioning for online payments, particularly to tackle the load on the last day.
