Tax Evasion of Rs.80 Crore detected in Lucknow in 3 years

The Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) commissioned a Geographical Information System (GIS) survey that revealed property tax fraud in the city totaling nearly Rs 80 crore during the previous three years.

According to the survey, 3.26 lakh owners of newly built homes that were built in the last two years have not registered for property tax.

Similar to this, approximately 2.16 lakh home owners have devalued their houses for the past three years, resulting in lower tax payments.

About Rs 60 crore in taxes are believed to have been avoided by new properties, and Rs 20 crore by undervalued houses.

According to corporators, property tax is a significant source of income for the civic body, and decreased revenue immediately affects development activity. In fact, they said, the financial crisis has delayed a number of citywide civic projects including fixing roads and drainage.

5.21 lakh properties were listed in LMC records as being in its control prior to the survey.

Only 3.05 lakh of these had paid taxes over the previous three years. The total amount of tax collected throughout the three years was Rs 745 crore. 8.47 lakh homes are now available for sale. If all taxes are recovered, the total revenue from this source will be close to Rs 825 crore, according to LMC estimates.

The majority of tax evasions, according to official sources, are committed in affluent neighbourhoods like Gomtinagar, Gomtinagar Extension, Indiranagar, Mahanagar, Jankipuram, and Jankipuram Extension, and the offenders include doctors, dealers, and engineers.

Ashok Singh, the head of taxation at LMC, reported that notices had been sent to tax defaulters requesting that they pay the taxes within two months. If they do not comply within the allotted period, LMC will take legal action.

People who disagree with the results will have a month to back up their claims, he continued.