T'puram Corporation suffers losses to tune of Rs 8 crores due to laxity in tax collection

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A local fund audit has found that the municipal corporation has lost eight crore rupees due to non-collection of property tax on various types of buildings. Out of Rs 14.88 crore to be collected under this category for the year 2022-23, Rs 8.26 crore was lost.

Rs 17.65 lakhs should be collected by the Corporation from the institutions under Vattiyoorkavu Regional Office. These include government institutions, cooperatives, industrial establishments and mobile towers.

Lapses

The audit department also found a lapse in the collection of rent from shopping complexes and shops, which are one of the main sources of revenue for the municipality. There is an arrears of Rs 99 lakhs in rent.

Faulty online system

The audit revealed that many of the property tax receipts of the Sreekaryam regional office were not posted correctly in the online software Sanchaya. Earlier there was a big controversy about paid taxes not getting updated in the software.

Where did the tax from the cricket match go?

The entertainment tax on tickets sold during an international cricket match held at Karyavattam Greenfield Stadium in February 2019 is yet to be decided. Rs 66.44 lakh rupees which is 24 per cent entertainment tax has to be paid by the Kerala Cricket Association to the Corporation. It was decided to start revenue recovery in March 2023. But KCA replied to the municipal council's notice saying that it has submitted a petition to the Minister of Local Government for entertainment tax exemption. But the municipal corporation has not received the order to waive the entertainment tax. The audit also points out that the government has not waived entertainment tax for any international cricket match at Karyavattam Stadium.