Dear Comrades,
If all goes well, property tax assessees in Coimbatore
Corporation will be able to pay the tax, water charges and other dues at
post offices.
The civic body was in talks with India
Post officials after the latter came forward with a proposal in this
regard, said Commissioner T.K. Ponnusamy. Mr. Ponnusamy made the remark
after Ward 86 Councillor A. Sadiq Ali demanded mobile tax collection
centres to facilitate easy payment. This was at Monday's Council
meeting.
At present, the Corporation has 13 tax collection centres and counters at 39 bank branches in the city.
It
also offers tax payment using debit cards and through e-banking. The
last two were part of the Corporation's e-governance initiatives.
Mr.
Ponnusamy also told the Councillors that he had not yet discussed the
proposal with Mayor S.M. Velusamy and only after they arrive at a
decision would the Corporation move ahead and forge a deal.
On Tuesday, he told The Hindu
that Deputy Commissioner S. Sivarasu was seized of the issue and
negotiating with the officials. The negotiations were about India Post
officials placing a demand of Rs. 10 for tax collected for each
assessment.
Assessments
Mr. Ponnusamy said
this was unacceptable to the Corporation because for many assessments
the tax assessed did not exceed Rs. 50.
This was most true of thatched-roofed, tile-roofed houses and those in slums and lower income group localities.
The civic body could accept if the India Post officials were to demand the sum for assessments of higher value.
He
also reasoned that the India Post officials could gain from the
interest levied for current accounts, into which they would keep the
money collected on behalf of the Corporation.
If the Corporation were to sew up an alliance, it would be yet another milestone in tax collection.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/article2949192.ece
