Patna: Property owners rushed to clear their dues on the last penalty-free day, helping Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) collect a record Rs 3.61 crore-plus in property tax from more than 1,900 properties on Wednesday. The collection, recorded till 7pm, was the highest single-day property tax collection in the current financial year, civic officials said.The collection surpassed the previous single-day record of Rs3.36crore registered on June 30.According to PMC data, the NewCapitalCircle contributed the highest share, collecting Rs2.08crore from 397 properties. PataliputraCircle collected around Rs50lakh from 449 properties, followed by KankarbaghCircle, which collected Rs40.60lakh from 293 properties.AzimabadCircle collected Rs28.83lakh from 333 properties, while BankipurCircle collected Rs23.62lakh from 271 properties. PatnaCityCircle recorded a collection of Rs10.32lakh from 175 properties.PMC officials said tax counters remained open till late Wednesday night to facilitate taxpayers. The final collection figure is expected to increase as payments made after 7pm are added to the total.The civic body also expanded its tax base by bringing 303newproperties under the property tax net on Wednesday. New Capital Circle accounted for 80 new assessments, followed by Kankarbagh (61), Azimabad (60), Pataliputra (55), Bankipur (29) and Patna City (18).Meanwhile, 81properties underwent reassessment. Of these, 64 property owners sought reassessment voluntarily, while PMC teams reassessed 17 properties after detecting discrepancies during field inspections. Penalties were imposed in the latter cases as per the rules.The record collection came at the conclusion of PMC’s special property tax drive aimed at boosting revenue collection and expanding the number of assessed properties in the city. Officials said the drive contributed significantly to the surge in collections and helped bring more properties under the tax system.
