Evasion of property tax: Guwahati Municipal Corporation serves notices to private schools

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Despite doing a roaring business, the private schools in Assam are trying to avoid the property tax payment to the government.

Most of the private schools in the state have not paid their property tax to the government for years. It has compelled the GMC (Guwahati Municipal Corporation) to serve notices to around 300 private schools defaulting property tax payments. The corporation will serve notices to more private schools.

If any organization uses land and building infrastructures for commercial purposes, the organization has to pay property tax to the civic body concerned.

Talking to The Sentinel, GMC Commissioner Debashish Sarma said, "We have scrutinized the papers of the private schools in Guwahati. It has come to light that they have not paid property tax to the GMC for years and on. We have served notices to around 300 private schools. The process will continue. Private schools in the metropolitan city owe around Rs 7 crore to the GMC in the form of property tax."

Under the GMC Act, private schools must pay property tax to the civic body. Over the years, none from the GMC raised this issue.

Guwahati has around 1,000 private schools of diverse sizes. The big schools have also figured on the list of property tax defaults.

According to sources, private school owners run their businesses in rented buildings erected for residential purposes. However, there is none to check that such building owners continue to pay taxes at the rate meant for residential buildings, despite running them for commercial purposes. The same is the case with other businesses as well. Many people use their residential buildings for commercial purposes partly and evade commercial property tax.

The same is the case with the private schools in other urban areas in the state. The urban local bodies outside Guwahati should also bring private schools under their property tax bracket.

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