House tax, sanitation, trade dues, rent arrears highlight gaps in revenue collection
The Margao Municipal Council (MMC) finds itself grappling with a massive tax arrears crisis, with total outstanding dues having crossed a staggering Rs 45.92 crore as of July 10, 2025. This marks one of the highest arrears in the Council’s recent history.
If information furnished to the Goa Legislative Assembly to a LAQ is to be believed, the total outstanding tax arrears that have come to haunt the Margao Civic body and the Powers that be stand at a whopping Rs 45,92,41,385, exposing serious lapses in revenue collection and enforcement.
A closer look at the data reveals that house tax arrears alone have surpassed Rs 18 crore, with the figure pegged at approximately Rs 18.25 crore. Meanwhile, outstanding dues under house tax sanitation have crossed Rs 15 crore, amounting to around Rs 15.02 crore. Together, these two heads alone account for over Rs 33 crore of the total arrears.
The situation on other revenue heads is no better. If the statistics provided by Margao Municipal Chief Officer Melvyn Vaz to a Legislative Assembly question is to be believed, the arrears on Trade tax has gone up to Rs 7.40 crore. The outstanding trade tax sanitation is pegged around Rs 1.89 crore.
Arrears on Signboards and rent have also mounted to a new high. Statistics showed that the total arrears on signboards and rent is pegged around Rs 1.53 crore and Rs 1.50 crore respectively.
The mounting rent arrears are particularly concerning, highlighting the Council’s failure to collect revenue from its own properties, including its two prominent municipal markets, the New Market and the Gandhi Market. Take note, the Margao Municipal Council owns two major markets, including the New Market and the Gandhi market and the arrears on rent only goes to show that the failure of the system in recovering the rent from its own premises.
Incidentally, a note attached by the outgoing MMC Chief Officer with the statistics shows that the MMC has initiated steps to recover the outstanding revenue. Given that the MMC has no recovery officer manning the recovery section, the CO has said the additional charge of Recovery Officer has been given to the Head Clerk, adding that under the supervision of the head clerk, the MMC has started to issue ward wise bills, promising to initiate further action as per the provisions of the Goa Municipalities Act to recover the outstanding dues.
However, sources within the taxation department have privately expressed concerns over the lack of accountability and strategic planning. They stress the need for clearly defined recovery targets and insist that the Head Clerk or the appointed Recovery Officer must be held responsible for ensuring meaningful progress in the recovery of arrears.
