NASHIK: The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) will identify rented out properties in the residential areas to levy property tax at commercial rates on such flats or houses in a bid to increase its revenue through property tax.
The civic body has already shortlisted three private agencies after tender process to distribute property tax bills to the taxpayers, besides zeroing in on residential properties that have been rented out.
“The work orders are to be issued to them soon. We expect the agencies to start work from Oct 1. One agency will be appointed for two divisions each. At present, NMC has six divisions,” a civic official said.
“According to the norms, property tax is levied at the commercial rate if the residential property is rented out by its owner. Most property owners, however, do not inform the civic body if they have rent out their premises,” the official said.
NMC has a total of 5.75 lakh properties on its records. “We send annual property tax bills to the taxpayers, but are unable to distribute bills to the property taxpayers in time owing to manpower crunch. Hence, we have decided to outsource the work to private agencies,” another civic official said.
The civic body said the appointed agencies would visit each property registered with the property tax department to verify if they have been let out. “We will levy property tax at the commercial rate if we come across tenants in the residential properties. This will help us increase our revenue through property tax,” the official said.
