Nagpur: Paying property tax in advance turned into an unexpected ordeal for a city chartered accountant, who was issued a property attachment (jabti) warrant by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) over an alleged outstanding amount of Rs38 — an amount that arose because the civic body’s software allegedly failed to grant a rebate on advance tax payment.The attachment notice was issued by Hanuman Nagar zone, even though the taxpayer had already paid property tax well in advance.According to CA Aditya Kothari, the issue dates back to April 30, 2024, when he paid property tax online for FY 2024-25. However, NMC portal failed to generate payment receipt. Assuming the transaction had failed, he made another payment on May 3, 2024, for the same financial year. This time, the portal generated a receipt.Later, after verifying with his bank, Kothari found that the first payment made on April 30 had in fact been successfully credited to NMC. “When I revisited the civic body’s portal, receipt for the April 30 payment became available, but the amount had been treated as an advance payment instead of current year’s tax,” Kothari told TOI.The matter resurfaced two years later. When Kothari logged into NMC portal on June 30, 2026, to pay property tax for FY 2026-27, he noticed an outstanding amount of Rs38 in addition to the current year’s tax demand of Rs9,174. Assuming it to be a minor balance, he paid Rs38. However, the receipt described the payment as warrant fee, prompting him to investigate further.On checking his account details, Kothari found that Hanuman Nagar zone had issued property attachment (jabti) warrant in February 2026 for alleged short payment of property tax for FY 2025-26.A detailed scrutiny revealed that NMC’s software had not extended the rebate applicable on advance payment of property tax. The rebate amount remained unpaid in the system, resulting in an outstanding balance of Rs38, which subsequently triggered recovery proceedings.Kothari approached officials at the Hanuman Nagar zonal office, who, according to him, acknowledged that it was a software glitch. He alleged that officials informed him that existing software does not calculate rebates correctly when property tax is paid more than one year in advance.He was advised to first pay current year’s property tax along with the outstanding amount and then register a complaint for rectification.A senior official from NMC’s tax department said the matter would be investigated. The official clarified that under the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act, rebates are admissible only on payments made for the current financial year. “If the taxpayer has paid for a future year and any discrepancy has arisen in the system, we will examine the case and rectify it, if warranted,” the official said.
