The Bhutanese Leading the way.
As of 3rd May afternoon the Department of Revenue and Customs (DRC) has collected a total of Nu 469 million (mn) in property taxes.
Of the 199,800 people who are eligible to pay property taxes a total of 161,275 have paid which leaves 38,525 who are yet to pay.
The system suffered on the last day on 30th April and was mainly down due to huge rush and multiple log ins across the country.
The system was also down on 1st May but it recovered towards the evening when the rush was less.
Due to the system issues many people who wanted to pay had to head back.
The ones who are left to pay includes many institutions like Dratshang, government offices and agencies that have large lands and multiple buildings and have to do more calculations.
For example, a school accountant called the DRC helpline and said he has not paid the tax yet as he was not aware though many other schools had paid.
There are also large private landholders who have not paid but this is not due to their unwillingness but due to the system issues.
In fact, some people have come multiple times to pay but could not pay either due to system issues or due to record issues that needed to be rectified or checked with other agencies.
The system was much smoother on 3rd May with easier payment possible.
A DRC official said that people are worried about being charged a 24% annual fine on the tax and so are rushing.
The official said that a note sheet had been put up by DRC to the Ministry of Finance to grant an extension of one more month due to the rush and systemic issues and so extension is granted till the end of May.
Even those who have not been able to file PIT due to computation issues over the property taxes will not be fined but others cannot expect the same leniency.
Those with pending Lagthram issues can also pay taxes based on the land registered in their name.
A DRC official said that even Royal Family members are paying and following up to pay taxes but some system down issues hampered it like for others.
The official said the online problem seems to have been multiple log ins and also storage issues in the servers. Once it was backed up and removed things improved too.
DRC has been in touch with the system developer which is in country and at the same time is also getting help from GovTech.
A DRC official said that the online system is working with people paying Nu 6 mn in taxes online on Saturday and Nu 4 mn on Sunday.
In rural areas where it was mapped using satellite images certain non-residential structures like cowsheds are being removed on request.
The revenue target is Nu 675 mn.
Of the Nu 675.59 mn taxes in the original projection, around Nu 323.44 mn is being paid just by the four thromdes of Thimphu, Phuentsholing, Gelephu and Samdrupjongkhar.
Nu 51.07 mn is paid by the various municipalities and Nu 301.08 mn is paid by rural areas which also includes those areas just outside the Thromde boundaries of Thimphu, Paro, Phuentsholing and Gelephu.
Within the Nu 675.59 mn figure is around 330 mn in building taxes.
