48,311 Buildings Covered
Coimbatore Corporation officials carrying out assessment of Property Tax in the city.The Coimbatore Corporation has taken fresh measurement of 48,311 industrial, commercial and residential buildings and fixed new Property Tax rates for them. The civic body says this effort seems to be paying off well as many buildings that had evaded tax are now being assessed for it.Even as it encourages a system of online self-assessment of Property Tax by building owners, the Corporation had decided last month to carry out a 100 per cent re-assessment of more than two-lakh buildings across the city. For all buildings constructed between April 1, 2006 and September 30, 2007, the tax has been increased by five per cent. There is a 10 per cent increase for those built from April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2006. The following rates apply to buildings constructed before April 1, 2003: residential – 20 per cent, industrial – 50 per cent and commercial – 75 per cent.
The Corporation began the exercise on June 23 and wants to complete it at least by the end of this month. The civic body has formed more than 30 teams to enable total coverage. The teams measure the buildings and check the blue print of the building plan. The new tax is calculated on the spot and given to the owners.The Corporation is maintaining a zone-wise list of buildings covered every day. As on Monday, 11,727 buildings in East Zone, 10,879 in West Zone, 12,234 in South Zone and 13,471 in North Zone have been re-assessed for tax.
Almost every day, the drive discovers that a number of buildings, especially apartments, have offices functioning in them. But, these have, for long, enjoyed the status of residential buildings and therefore lesser tax. The Corporation is now making efforts to change the classification of these buildings from residential to commercial in its database. A revenue official in the Corporation says that the tax rates applicable to commercial establishments are fixed on-the-spot for such buildings.
In an earlier drive for identifying buildings that had not been assessed for tax, the Corporation found that around 20,000 structures had escaped taxation. But, this exercise had proved tough for the Corporation as additional structures built 10 years ago were difficult to distinguish from the old ones. Therefore, the Corporation had decided to go in for 100 per cent fresh assessment.The official says additional structures in many establishments have not been assessed for tax. The Corporation is optimistic that its annual Property Tax revenue will touch Rs.90 crore, as against the Rs.83 crore projected in its budget. After the previous revision of tax in 1998, the Corporation’s annual target till March 2008 has been Rs.42 crore.
