The BBMP has invited objections to the proposed rates till November 18, after which the final notification will be issued.
There’s bad news this festival season. The revised property tax rates set to be notified in a couple of weeks will come with a hike more than the bandied 20%-25%. Property owners in many instances may end up paying a levy 50%-100% more than what they were paying till this year, BBMP sources said.
An October 18 notification proposed a 20% hike in Unit Area Value (index to calculate property tax) for residential properties, and 25% for commercial properties. But the city’s six zones have been reorganized based on the recent hike in guidance values, pushing some areas from the lower E and F zones to higher D, C, B or A zones, a source said
The UAV for Zone E, according to prevailing rates for tenanted residential properties, is Rs 2.40 per sqft per month. The proposed UAV for similar category in Zone A is Rs 6. For a residential property that moves from Zone E to A, this would mean a 150% hike in the levy, sources explained.
“Zones E and F, which earlier paid very low taxes, will be affected the most. The percentage of hike for properties falling in these zones will be 50-60%. Zones A and B, which are mostly posh locales like MG Road, Koramangala or Jayanagar, will be less affected as the percentage of levy will be around 10,” they said.
The BBMP has invited objections to the proposed rates till November 18, after which the final notification will be issued. However, sources ruled out any drastic change in the proposed rates. Property tax will have to be paid on the basis of the new rates from April 1, 2016.
The civic body has sought to cushion the steep hike. If a property in Zone F moves to Zone D or above, the new levy rate will be that of Zone E. But this concession will be only for 2016-17. Later, the levy will be decided on the allocated zonal rate.
Property tax rates were last revised in 2008, based on the 2007 guidance value rates. Ever since, guidance values were revised thrice, but tax rates were not, is BBMP’s argument.
Courtesy: Aparajita Ray, TNN, 05 November 2015