MCD records highest-ever property tax collection, crosses ₹2,700 crore

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has recorded its highest-ever property tax collection, crossing ₹2,700 crore by December 31 in the 2025-26 financial year.

The figure marks a jump of about 45 per cent over collections during the same period last year, officials said on Saturday.

Officials said that the increase has been accompanied by a sharp rise in the number of taxpayers. The total count of registered property taxpayers has surged from 10.31 lakh in 2024-25 to 12.43 lakh this year, an increase of nearly 21 per cent.

Civic officials attributed the rise to a combination of taxpayer outreach, tighter enforcement and the response to the tax amnesty scheme, SUNIYO, introduced for 2025-26.

"Under the scheme, property owners can get interest and penalties waived if they clear the current year's tax along with dues from the previous five years," an official statement read.

Officials said the scheme encouraged many owners who had earlier filed incorrect property tax returns or paid lower amounts to regularise their dues. It also drew in those who had paid tax only occasionally in earlier years.

By December 31, around 1.70 lakh taxpayers had availed the SUNIYO scheme, contributing about ₹933 crore. This included ₹320 crore from nearly 91,000 new taxpayers brought into the tax net, the statement said.

Despite the response, the corporation said over six lakh recorded taxpayers have either underpaid or not paid property tax and are yet to use the scheme. The MCD has urged them to clear their dues, warning that enforcement action under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, will follow once the scheme closes.

The SUNIYO scheme has now been extended till January 31, 2026, with a 5 per cent penalty. Payments can be made through the MCD's property tax portal, the corporation said in a statement.