MARGAO
Loyal Tax Payers from the commercial capital virtually caught Margao Municipal Council Chairperson Babita Angle Prabhudesai on the wrong foot, alleging that she is a tax defaulter having not paid her tax for her premises and that she owed to the civic body taxes of 2016-17, besides taxes of the current year.
Apparently taken by surprise, the Chairperson rushed with the payment around noon and later claimed that she has cleared all the taxes due to the Council.
The Loyal Tax Payers led by Savio Coutinho also charged the Chairperson for not paying the sanitation fees for her lab amounting to Rs 6,000, demanding to know what moral right the Chairperson has to collect taxes from others when she has not paid the sanitation fees.
They also demanded an apology from the Chairperson for casting allegations against the NIC on account of her name figuring in the list of defaulters. “We demand the resignation of the Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai for misguiding the people when she did not pay taxes of the last financial year,” demanded Laurel Abranches.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson sent her man to clear the taxes of the last financial year and of the current year. She told the media in the evening that she has cleared all the taxes due to the civic body of the current and previous financial year. “Today, I asked the Municipal officials to come out with a statement on the amount of taxes due to the civic body. I had also expressed my willingness to pay the sanitation fees, but I have been told that I have to give a separate cheque,” Babita said.
When her attention was drawn to the allegations made by the Loyal Tax Payers of Margao to her pending dues when she had claimed last week that she was a sincere tax payer, Babita shot back “My man must have gone to clear the dues. I do not know why the tax payment was not accepted by the civic body.”
“Having been subjected to gross humiliation, the Loyal Tax Payers of Margao shall not accept any sanitation fees until and unless all the waste generators get listed. The category-wise rates should be decided thereafter, based on the expected income from all the waste generators,” Savio said.
The tax payers cautioned the Council not to dream of making profit out of waste collection, as the house/licence fees collected, do not commensurate with the services provided in any manner.
