MPAJ president Dr Ani Ahmad (left) said that there has been an increase in collection of assessment tax arrears with the setting up of Skuad Khas Hasil. — WILLIAM GARY/The Star
A TASK force to recover assessment tax arrears in Ampang Jaya, Selangor, has borne fruit with millions of ringgit collected in outstanding payments.
Ampang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPAJ) task force managed to boost its collection by 23.72% in recovered arrears, said president Dr Ani Ahmad.
She said from Jan 1 to May 31, 2024, MPAJ collected RM10.3mil in arrears, an increase of RM1.99mil compared to the same period last year.
“We can see that the squad has been effective in recovering tax arrears.
“Task force members would visit selected locations and remind property owners to pay up,” she said during the council’s full board meeting at Menara MPAJ.
Ani said MPAJ also collected some RM40.1mil in current assessment taxes and is targeting to collect RM87.5mil this year.
MPAJ’s “Skuad Khas Hasil” was set up in 2023 comprising staff from various departments.
StarMetro previously reported that each squad member was tasked to collect RM150,000 in tax arrears from defaulters.
If successful, they would each receive a commission of 5% of the payment collected by the local council.
During the meeting, Ani said MPAJ was carrying out periodic operations against ratepayers who failed to pay assessment taxes for more than two years.
On June 26 and 27, operations were carried out at 15 premises in Desa Melawati, Taman Melawati, Ampang Jaya, Taman Dato’ Ahmad Razali and Taman Cheras to recover RM72,194.39 in taxes.
As of June 21, reminders were sent to 1,162 account holders who owed MPAJ a total of RM690,000 in assessment taxes.
In another matter, Ani said MPAJ provided foreign residents with temporary slaughter locations during the recent Hari Raya Aidiladha celebration.
“Each year, we see that they tend to perform the slaughter in public and residential areas due to difficulties accessing mosques, surau or other suitable locations.
“This has led to issues of cleanliness and disturbance to the local community.
“This year, MPAJ took proactive steps by collaborating with local leaders, government agencies, non-governmental organisations and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to manage these activities.
“We saw a reduction in complaints from residents and improved neighbourhood cleanliness and traffic flow,” she said.
