The Belagavi City Corporation’s Revenue Department has stepped up efforts to increase property tax collection by remeasuring industrial and commercial properties suspected of having underreported their built-up area.
The civic body has an annual property tax collection target of around ₹85–90 crore. However, officials believe that significant revenue is being lost because some industrial and commercial property owners are paying tax on a smaller area than what is actually being used.
As part of the drive, officials have begun identifying and remeasuring properties in major commercial and industrial hubs, including Udyambag, Ward 18 along Khanapur Road, Auto Nagar and other industrial areas.
Special teams formed
The corporation has more than 8,500 commercial and industrial properties under its jurisdiction. Officials suspect that some properties may have been paying taxes after declaring a smaller area.
To verify this, special teams have been formed under the leadership of the Southern Revenue Zone Commissioner, along with teams in the other two revenue zones.
The teams are focusing particularly on large industrial and commercial establishments. Initial remeasurement has reportedly found instances where the area recorded for taxation did not match the actual area being used.
What will be checked?
The remeasurement drive will verify:
- Area recorded in corporation records against the actual area of the property
- Commercial properties registered as residential buildings
- Buildings that are outside the existing tax assessment
- Actual usage, area and supporting property documents
- Any discrepancy between the declared and actual property details
“Industrial and commercial properties within the Municipal Corporation limits are being remeasured. This will help determine the correct tax liability and prevent tax evasion,” said M. Karthik, Municipal Corporation Commissioner.
Where discrepancies are found, the corporation will revise the property tax assessment and recover the applicable tax.