Revised property tax from January 2019: civic body

CITY residents can expect an almost 50 per cent hike in their property tax from next year on-wards. Though residents' associations had requested the corporation to postpone the tax revision till after local body elections, sources confirmed that the corporation will not delay the decision of hiking taxes. According to sources, the tax rate for residential and government buildings are to be increased by about 50 per cent. "We are revising the tax rates after 10 years. But com-pared to other corporations, we are charging less tax. For instance, if you are a resident paying property tax of 21,000, you will have to pay 21,500 after the hike," said officials. However, tax on commercial properties has increased by almost 100 per cent. "This simply means commercials property taxpayers have to give almost double of what they are paying now For instance, if you are a businessman paying 21,000 as property tax, you would have to pay about 22,000 from next year onwards," said sources.

 According to sources, the corporation is not in a position to put off the revision as it is facing a financial crunch. This apart, the State government had issued orders (Government Orders No, 73 and 76) to urban bodies to revise property tax slabs. This left the corporation with little option but to proceed with increasing taxes. "We cannot postpone this decision as other corporations would also increase tax. We had issued a notice regarding new property tax slabs in September. As per the plan, these tax rates will come into effect from January 2019 on-wards and implement-ed from April 1, 2019. The tax hike will not be applicable to certain buildings constructed after April 1, 2017," said an official Meanwhile, the Federation of Tiruchy City Residents Welfare Associations stated the decision needs to be put on hold till local body elections. "If the local body faces a financial crisis even after having an elected body, the government can go ahead with the decision. So, we suggested the State government should maintain the existing tax rates till the elections," said S Sakthivel, a member of the federation.

source: epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/34208685