The taxman is coming to catch evaders

KOCHI: A special meeting will be convened by Mayor Tony Chammany on February  27 to discuss the steps to be taken to complete the tax collection    proceedings before March 15.  The meeting will also look into the measures to be taken if the State  Government decides to exempt tax evaders from paying penal interest. The state had recently announced that the buildings in panchayats will be given an exemption from paying penal interest which is 12 per cent of the total tax for a year. Meanwhile, the second phase of the tax-collection drive initiated by the  Kochi Corporation has helped it raise the total revenue garnered for the   period between April 2011 and January 2012 to Rs 57.66 crore.  “There was an increase of Rs 17 crore in tax collection compared to the same period last year as the figure for April 2010 to January 2011 was only Rs 40.26 crore,” said a top official with the Kochi Corporation’s Revenue Department. The Revenue Department has also listed 224 buildings as tax defaulters in  its recent assessment. The official said stringent action would be taken against tax evaders. “We  have served notices on some of the buildings. We will initiate steps towards   revenue recovery from defaulters who failed to respond to the notice. The  list of tax defaulters include hotels, hospitals and commercial establishments,” he added. Meanwhile, some of the tax defaulters, who were served notices, had already  approached the Kerala High Court to get a stay on the recovery proceedings.  The official said that the remaining buildings will be issed warrants from March 1. “The majority of the buildings have made alterations in their plan by  deviating from the approved building plan. Some have added extra floors to the building and converted parking spaces into commercial ones,” he added.The civic body is targeting a total of Rs 100 crore revenue through tax collection before March 2012.The Corporation had recently revised the property tax rates as per the  instructions given by the Local-Self Government Department. The Revenue Department will focus on buildings that were assessed as residential ones for taxation purposes earlier and later converted into commercial establishments. Since there is a considerable difference in the tax rate for  the two categories, the civic body will re-assess such buildings and collect taxes accordingly.