Expanding the tax base, rather than simply raising tax rates, is among the options being considered to address the resource imbalance among Bengaluru’s five city corporations, Gowda told ET.
“There is a mismatch between the number of properties in Bengaluru and those paying property tax,” he said.
Three separate exercises—the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, socio-economic and socio-educational surveys, and preparatory work for the Census—identified more than 47 lakh properties in Bengaluru. Of these, about 23 lakh have obtained a khata, while only around 18 lakh are paying property tax, Gowda said.
“Once we complete the mapping, we can bring more properties into the tax network. This will improve the financial sustainability of the corporations without necessarily increasing tax rates,” he said.
The problem also extends to under-reporting of property taxes. A sample survey of 23,000 tax-paying properties found under-reporting estimated at about Rs 700 crore, indicating the scale of potential revenue that can be recovered through better compliance.
“The resource problem in Bengaluru is not because of a lack of potential. It is primarily a problem of compliance,” Gowda said.The minister acknowledged that many property owners received notices for higher taxes and said errors were possible, asking affected residents to use the online objection mechanism.
The government issued 23,000 notices, of which 11,000 resulted in online objections. “Once a person objects, we do not proceed further until field verification is completed. If there is an error, it will be corrected,” he said.
On property tax revision, Gowda said the last revision was carried out in 2016. The immediate focus, he said, was to widen compliance and address under-reporting rather than increase the burden on existing taxpayers.
Five corporations
Gowda also defended the continuation of Bengaluru’s five-city corporation structure, saying the recent fall in the number of registered voters after SIR should not be used to estimate the city’s population or determine its governance structure.
“It is a complete misreading to say Bengaluru has only 5.5 million people because that is the number of voters after SIR,” he said.
People living in Bengaluru may retain voter registration in their home districts, while those below 18 and eligible but unregistered residents also depend on civic services. “Governance cannot and should not be framed purely from a voter perspective,” he said, putting Bengaluru’s population at 13 million or more as an estimate until the Census provides a clearer count.
