MARGAO
Day one of the new financial year saw the Margao Municipal coffers getting richer by around eight lakhs on Monday.
A serpentine queue of taxpayers was seen at the tax payment counter on the ground floor of the Margao Municipal building since early morning. The rush was cleared by the civic staff handling the cash payments only during the afternoon lunch break.
Inquiries with the municipal officials revealed that around Rs 4.5 lakh revenue was earned by the municipality on the house tax head on day one of the new financial year. The remaining tax revenue came from other heads, including trade licences and other licences, amounting to around Rs three lakh.
The tax payment section witnessed the huge queue of taxpayers since early Monday morning. Sources in the know pointed out that it is not uncommon to find taxpayers standing in a queue on the first couple of days of the new financial year to clear the taxes, particularly the house tax.
A municipal official explained that most of the taxpayers who line up in the few 2-3 days of the new financial year to pay the taxes are usually those whose structures are in dispute with family members and others. “We have found in the past that house tax for the same house, which is in litigation, is being paid by family members. The receipt is then produced in the court during the proceedings in support of their claim for the house ownership,” an official explained.
MMC officials expect a heavy rush of house taxpayers in the next few days, a normal trend witnessed in the MMC payment section at the beginning of the new financial year. “We are all geared up to handle the rush of taxpayers to clear the house tax for the financial year,” remarked an official.
