Spare us the revaluation pain, Mr Commissioner!

Spare us the revaluation pain, Mr Commissioner!

Not everyone is happy with the proposed hike in the property tax rate. Moreover, Bangaloreans face the chore of having to self-assess their properties all over again, an exercise which they thought was over and done with when SAS was first introduced

By Atul Chaturvedi
Posted On Thursday, October 16, 2008

While the state government’s decision to scrap the CVS (capital value scheme) method of property tax collection and go back to the earlier annual rental value method under the self-assessment scheme (SAS) has been welcomed by a majority of Bangaloreans, the proposed 20 per cent hike in the tax rate has not gone down well with residents. Equally worrisome to many is the prospect of once again having to go through the exercise of self-assessing their properties.

“I am a regular property tax payer and have no objection to the tax hike. What I don’t want to go through once again is having to revalue my property, which I had done in 2000. I just hope BBMP finds a way to spare us this hardship,” said an aggrieved house owner. As of now, that seems a remote possibility as BBMP commissioner S Subramanya is firm on the point that citizens will have to re-assess their properties.

Meanwhile, a political storm seems to be brewing over the proposed tax hike. Gandhinagar MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao has opposed the 20 per cent hike and said Congress MLAs from Bangalore would meet soon to decide on their next step. “I don’t know why the government has hiked the SAS rate. They should have implemented it as it was earlier. In any case, as market values increase, so will taxes,” he said.

His party colleagues, Bytarayanapura MLA Krishna Byre Gowda, Shanti Nagar MLA N A Haris and Vijayanagar MLA M Krishnappa, are also opposed to the tax hike.

“The government is imposing itself on the common man. It could have increased the tax rate by five per cent, but a 20 per cent hike will hit those who have limited incomes,” they said.

Call for clarity

Jayanagar MLA B N Vijaykumar (BJP) said people were confused as there was not enough clarity on the re-introduction of SAS. He said a delegation would meet the BBMP commissioner to seek further clarifications. “I want my constituency to be a model for others. I will be putting up a pandal to help people fill up the self-assessment forms,” he said.

FKCCI president D Muralidhar, while welcoming the proposed tax hike as well as the 50 per cent rebate for self-occupied properties, expressed his disappointment at the proposed zoning changes.

“Also, the two and a half times cap available under SAS earlier has been discontinued. This will adversely affect property owners,” he said.

Mixed response

There were mixed reactions to the proposed tax hike from representatives of residents’ welfare associations (RWAs). While B N Mani, secretary of the V V Puram RWA, wanted a reduction in the tax rate from 20 per cent to 15 per cent in residential areas, Vijayanagar Citizens’ Forum president Jagannath said the tax hike was justified as BBMP needed funds for civic development.

N S Mukunda, president of Citizen’s Action Forum, saw no problem with the revaluation exercise, reasoning that in the last eight years, many property owners might have modified their properties.

Besides, the newly added CMC areas would have to switch over to SAS from CVS, he noted. “We are awaiting more details on the revised SAS,” he added.

S R Venkatram of the RWA of BP Wadia Road, Basavanagudi wanted the tax rate reduced while Smitha Srinath of the Lalbagh West RWA welcomed the revised SAS. Chiranjeet Singh of the Sadashivanagar RWA said more clarity was required on the scheme.

BBMP ‘ready’

Meanwhile, BBMP commissioner S Subramanya told Bangalore Mirror, “SAS will get a facelift and will be implemented from the current year. People will have to revalue their property.” He added, “We are ready to implement it from the very next month. The final notification will be issued in 15 days and orders will then be given for printing the application forms.” The government will soon promulgate an ordinance amending the Karnataka Municipal Act, 1976, with a view to making SAS uniform throughout the BBMP limits. The amendment will later be taken up for ratification in the state assembly. The proposed six zones have been categorised on the basis of government guidance values.

According to BBMP sources, the new guidelines for self-assessment will be simple and easy to understand.

Property tax bytes

15 lakh properties in BBMP area

3 lakh are regular tax payers

All properties are to be revalued

Notification will be issued within 15 days

Ordinance to make SAS applicable to BBMP limits