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MCG faced a staggering blow to its revenue, amounting to Rs 461.7 crore over a span of 12 years. The Haryana principal accountant general's audit uncovered a disconcerting revelation: 1,252 institutional property owners' inability to comply with property tax payments. These finding highlights a concerning issue within the system, indicating a failure to ensure compliance with tax obligations. The audit also illuminated a perplexing absence of property owner names in MCG's records for zones 1 and 4. Surprisingly, the zonal taxation officers responsible failed to embark on a quest to recover these missing records. They neglected to seek assistance from the revenue department, missing an opportunity to uncover critical details about these property owners.
Within Zone 1, the audit report exposed the disheartening reality that 430 property IDs lacked owner names, resulting in MCG's inability to collect a substantial sum of property tax and fire tax, summing up to Rs 200.3 crore. Zone 4 didn't fare any better, as the names of property owners were mysteriously absent from 746 property IDs out of a total of 1,233 institutional properties. Consequently, MCG sustained significant losses of Rs 261.4 crore in property and fire tax revenue. Regrettably, the report failed to address property tax losses for zones 2 and 3.
The audit report offered a dismaying insight, stating that the absence of proper records hindered the imposition of property tax. The zonal taxation officers displayed a regrettable lack of initiative in their failure to search for owner details from both the MCG revenue department and the state revenue department to serve necessary notices.
To compound the revenue losses, MCG provided a generous 100 percent rebate to numerous institutions and commercial property basements, including bustling shopping malls. In Zone 1 alone, 99 institutions and four basements were granted this rebate, resulting in a loss of nearly Rs 3.8 crore. Zone 4 followed suit by granting a 100 percent rebate to 67 institutions and basements of commercial properties, amounting to a loss of Rs 5.8 crore.
However, amidst the revelations of property tax revenue losses highlighted in the audit report, MCG stands firm in its stance that these losses will not be disregarded or forgiven. A senior MCG official affirmed their commitment to recovering the amount owed, even if it entails charging interest. Nonetheless, rectifying the property ID data, updating records, and ultimately collecting the outstanding dues will require a substantial investment of time and effort. The road to fiscal recuperation may be arduous, but MCG remains steadfast in its pursuit of financial redress.
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