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As the month of June comes to an end, employees and executives of MCD are finally breathing a sigh of relief. This is because the early bird season for filing of property tax for 2009-10 has come to an end.

The process of filing returns online and taking advantage of 15 per cent rebate of property tax has turned out to be a headache for both the MCD officials, as well as the property owners. The heavy rush on the portal and payment gateway resulted in complete crash of the online filing system for property tax. As a result, for past 10 days, Delhi citizens have finally been left with no option but to physically fill the property tax forms and submit them with the due amount at the MCD offices.

Online payment of MCD Property Tax had earlier enabled convenient Tax return filing for all properties in Delhi. MCD Property Tax Online Pay software was made operational with effect from 1st April 2007. Anyone could login to the MCD property tax website and follow the MCD property tax guide called the MCD property tax information system (MCD-PTIS) which gives an introduction to the entire tax return filing procedure.

The MCD Property Tax Online Payment system was designed to remove the long queues, complicated property tax forms and no help from the disorganized MCD counters created. All one had to do is download the PTR (Property Tax Return) form from the website, calculate the appropriate tax depending upon the unit area value and the total space liable for the MCD Property Tax and take a print out of a copy of the duly filled form and make the payment online.

MCD Property Tax, if paid in a lump-sum within the first quarter of the financial year, is liable for a rebate of 15% as per MCD regulations. The MCD Property Tax Payment online software takes account of the eligible applications and calculates the Returns accordingly. The other MCD Property Tax payment gateways include cheque payments or cash payments at any Axis Bank Branch or at MCD customer service bureaus. Online Tax payments can be made through Axis Bank Credit Cards and also through SBI Credit Cards.

Also, online filing of taxes is easier and offers a user friendly approach. Indeed, the payees have also liked the scheme, which is clearly evident by the kind of response received to the scheme in first two and a half months of current financial year. The scheme has brought great solace for the Capital’s working population, who hardly find any time other than Sundays to take up such chores. Time saving is one of the reasons attributing to popularity of the scheme. But following the crash of payment gateways, and heavy rush in closing days of first quarter on portal, the entire convenience has turned out to be a flop show for many property owners, who may not be able to claim any rebates after June 30.

Amit Jain