Bhubaneswar holding tax defaulters: Govt institutions and schools owe crores

Bhubaneswar: Biju Patnaik College, State Forensic Science Laboratory, state guest house and many private schools are among the top holding tax defaulters, with the financial year ending on Tuesday.

The BMC targeted collection of Rs 200 crore in holding tax in the 2025-26 financial year, but it could fetch Rs 117 crore, with around Rs 80 crore pending with the defaulters. Of the Rs 117 crore, the BMC collected Rs 50 crore in March alone, which indicated that the marathon drive, publicising the defaulter list and repeated follow-up yielded some result.

The BMC sources said that the state guest house, located at a prominent place covering a huge area and having VIP rooms, evaded more than half a crore of tax. BMC officials revealed the guest house, which is under the administrative control of the home department, cited that the facility is not for profit and hence holding tax should be exempted.

“Among other govt institutions, Central Institute of Language and state housing board owes Rs 15.85 lakh and Rs 12.73 lakh respectively, despite us writing to them to clear the dues. We will keep following up even as we have stepped into a new financial year. Zone-wise, we will compile different categories of defaulter list and carry out fresh follow-up,” said BMC deputy commissioner Suryamani Pattjoshi.

The officials said the total dues against all govt institutions will be more than Rs 35 crore. “Also, the private institutions that are established on Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) land have not paid mostly,” Pattjoshi said.

Last year, the govt accorded permission to the BMC to collect holding tax from the areas under Idco, including all industrial clusters and parks, to increase its annual revenue.

This time, the BMC conducted 900 special camps at different places in 67 wards in Dec-Jan by involving resident welfare associations in sensitising people to pay the holding tax. The associations mobilise residents of gated societies and encourage them to pay tax. Though a special drive was conducted, till the first week of March, the BMC collected only around Rs 70 crore in holding tax.