The form to be filled by property tax payers of Mysore is two pages long. But in light of the amended Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, most of the information that needs to be filled is not necessary and the length of the form can be reduced to a quarter of a page.
In fact, the only information that is needed is the name of the property owner, the location of the property and the tax paid on the property last year. According to the amended KMC Act, the property tax remains constant for three years and then automatically increases by 15%. The 24% cess on the property tax follows the same pattern. The solid waste management cess remains constant. In the years the property tax does not increase, the total amount to be paid is the same as the previous year and in the years the property tax increases by 15%, the new total amount to be paid is 1.15 x (last year's property tax + 24% cess) + SWM cess.
MCC should simplify its tax forms to reflect this fact. It is highly regrettable that the form has not been simplified even 5 years after the introduction of the SAS system. The present form asks all kinds of information about the site and the building which is totally unnecessary, because the tax does not need to be freshly computed at all.
Since the people are not aware of this simple fact, they get scared by the complicated form and hence pay as much as Rs. 50 to get the forms filled by others.
The irony is that while space is wasted in the form on irrelevant information, there is no place for the 5% rebate on tax paid before April 30!
It must be pointed out that several items on the property tax form have no legal basis whatsoever. Some of these illegal provisions are:
1. 50% rebate given for self-occupancy: A 50% rebate for self occupancy was given by Sec. 109A of the KMC Act with effect from 13-9-01. But when the Act was amended in 2005, this section which gave the rebate was removed. So MCC has no legal basis to give the 50% rebate for self-occupancy.
2. Depreciation: The amended KMC Act mandates that property tax remains constant for three years and then increases by 15%. Depreciation is taken into account when the property is first assessed for tax, but after that there is no scope for including depreciation.
3. 10% increase in site value for corner sites: According to the KMC Act, the property tax is based on the property guideline values decided by the registrar's office. These guideline values do not show that corner sites are valued at 10% more than the neighbouring sites. Therefore, MCC can not charge extra property tax for corner sites.
Another problem with the property tax payments is that four banks are supposed to be authorized to collect property tax, namely, Axis bank, SBM, Syndicate bank and Vijaya bank. But SBM, Syndicate bank and Vijaya bank are not accepting tax payments.
In fact, the only information that is needed is the name of the property owner, the location of the property and the tax paid on the property last year. According to the amended KMC Act, the property tax remains constant for three years and then automatically increases by 15%. The 24% cess on the property tax follows the same pattern. The solid waste management cess remains constant. In the years the property tax does not increase, the total amount to be paid is the same as the previous year and in the years the property tax increases by 15%, the new total amount to be paid is 1.15 x (last year's property tax + 24% cess) + SWM cess.
MCC should simplify its tax forms to reflect this fact. It is highly regrettable that the form has not been simplified even 5 years after the introduction of the SAS system. The present form asks all kinds of information about the site and the building which is totally unnecessary, because the tax does not need to be freshly computed at all.
Since the people are not aware of this simple fact, they get scared by the complicated form and hence pay as much as Rs. 50 to get the forms filled by others.
The irony is that while space is wasted in the form on irrelevant information, there is no place for the 5% rebate on tax paid before April 30!
It must be pointed out that several items on the property tax form have no legal basis whatsoever. Some of these illegal provisions are:
1. 50% rebate given for self-occupancy: A 50% rebate for self occupancy was given by Sec. 109A of the KMC Act with effect from 13-9-01. But when the Act was amended in 2005, this section which gave the rebate was removed. So MCC has no legal basis to give the 50% rebate for self-occupancy.
2. Depreciation: The amended KMC Act mandates that property tax remains constant for three years and then increases by 15%. Depreciation is taken into account when the property is first assessed for tax, but after that there is no scope for including depreciation.
3. 10% increase in site value for corner sites: According to the KMC Act, the property tax is based on the property guideline values decided by the registrar's office. These guideline values do not show that corner sites are valued at 10% more than the neighbouring sites. Therefore, MCC can not charge extra property tax for corner sites.
Another problem with the property tax payments is that four banks are supposed to be authorized to collect property tax, namely, Axis bank, SBM, Syndicate bank and Vijaya bank. But SBM, Syndicate bank and Vijaya bank are not accepting tax payments.
P.M.Bhat, Mysore Grahakara Parishat