SAS-savvy

SAS-savvy
Take out a calculator and get that computation correct, or the tax figures will go all wrong
Aarthi R | TNN

Bangalore: Dreading that hole in the pocket SAS will give you? Don’t, say BBMP officials, things are not so bad. It is only if you’ve erred in assessing your property tax in 2000 will you pay a high rate this time around.
The proposed 20% increase in property tax this year might seem too high, But BBMP is certain that the increase is taxing only if the property was not assessed correctly the last time — meaning if there are no errors in the 2000 calculation, citizens will not be paying as high as they anticipate.
Even with a 20% increase in Unit Area Value (UAV), the net tax paid will definitely be not more than 8-10% of what you paid last time, provided you paid it correctly — with the right zone classification, category and computation.
And if there are any errors this time, there are chances you might be caught sooner than expected.
With increased use of technology like the Geographic Information System (GIS) based property survey that’s expected to be complete within the next two months, and provisions of ‘random scrutiny’ under the tax law, BBMP hopes to avoid much loss in revenue due to simple miscalculations in filing tax returns by property owners.
According to BBMP sources, there were more than 75,000 notices issued during the property tax collected under the Self Assessment Scheme (SAS) in 2000. These include both residential and commerical properties. The common errors spotted were: wrong zone classification, excess depreciation availed alongside the category differences, and even differences in tax calculated.
For instance, one of them showed tax assessment of Rs 532, when he had to pay Rs 2,063. In another case, a house built in 1983 had a depreciation value of Rs 4,200 instead of Rs 2,700, and even an error in category selection (Category II instead of I — see table below for an approximate gross figure under each error category). Sources say that the BBMP had suffered a revenue loss of more than Rs 6 crore due to such simple miscalculations by a few property owners.
Though the BBMP AROs had issued notices to these people, it had to withdraw any further action following the Council’s decision in 2002 as it was people’s first experience with SAS.
GROSS ERRORS in SAS 2000
Type of error
No. of notices issued (approx.)
Wrong zone classification:
more than 7,000
Excess depreciation availed:
more than 43,000
Tax differences:
more than 70,000
Category differences:
more than 1 lakh
SUGGESTION BOX
Should dishonest taxpayers be saved from heavy tax?
This time, there should be no escape for dishonest taxpayers. BBMP should ensure that all property owners either pay tax or a heavy penalty, if found to have deliberately filed false returns.
D Muralidhar
| FKCCI PRESIDENT
Apart from ensuring an updated property register, why not also introduce an amnesty scheme (like in income-tax) for those who have filed wrong tax — give them three months to file their clarifications and impose a penalty if found to have made a dishonest assessment of their property.
N S Mukunda
| CAF PRESIDENT