In Lucknow, Rs 80 crore in house tax evasion has been discovered in three years.

LUCKNOW: Property tax evasion in the city totaled Rs 80 crore over the last three years, according to a Geographical Information System (GIS) survey commissioned by the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC). According to the survey, approximately 3.26 lakh new homeowners who built their homes in the last two years have not registered for property tax.

Similarly, over 2.16 lakh property owners have undervalued their homes and paid less tax over the last three years.

New properties are estimated to evade Rs 60 crore in tax, while undervalued properties are estimated to evade Rs 20 crore.

According to officials, property tax is a major source of revenue for the civic body, and less realization has a direct impact on development work. Indeed, due to the financial crisis, several civic projects in the city, such as road and drain repair, have been halted, they added.

Prior to the survey, LMC had records for 5.21 lakh properties under its jurisdiction, of which only 3.05 lakh had paid tax in the previous three years.

Over the last three years, the total tax collected was Rs 745 crore. The total number of properties now stands at 8.47 lakh. If 100% of the tax is recovered, LMC estimates that the total revenue from this source will be around Rs 825 crore.

The majority of tax evasions were discovered in affluent areas such as Gomtinagar, Gomtinagar Extension, Indiranagar, Mahanagar, Jankipuram, and Jankipuram Extension, according to official sources, and the evaders included doctors, traders, and engineers.

LMC chief taxation officer Ashok Singh stated that defaulters have been served with notices requiring them to pay the taxes within two months. If they do not comply within the specified time frame, LMC will take legal action.

“Those who disagree with the findings will be given a month to prove their case,” he added.