KMC plans to hike property tax for those who are yet to submit Self Assessmet Forms under UAA

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is planning to increase property tax by five per cent for those who are yet to submit Self Assessment Forms (SAF) under the Unit Area Assessment (UAA) system.

A senior KMC official said that a Bill has already been passed at the winter session of the state Assembly and soon a notification will be made following which the civic body will increase property tax by five per cent for those who haven’t yet submitted the SAF. The official said that about 26 per cent of 8.5 lakh taxpayers have switched to the UAA system of property tax. It was, however, pointed out that this measure will not be seen as a penalty but just a step to build the pressure to switch to the new system of property tax payment. The official pointed out that for now the civic body is accepting payment of taxes in the old method of taxation.

KMC introduced the UAA system in 2017. Since then the civic body has been urging tax payers to switch to the new method. Several tax payers have but complained that they find the new method cumbersome and hence prefer to continue paying taxes under the old system. The KMC has given several deadlines which over time had to be extended but a major percentage of the taxpayers have been reluctant to switch, according to the official.

It was assured that once the taxpayers submit their SAF as per the UAA system the additional tax will be adjusted. The SAF is available for download on the KMC website.The KMC had switched to the UAA system since the former Annual Rateable Value method lacked scientific and regulatory guidelines for arriving at the reasonable rent of a property depending on its location, characteristics and usage which left ample scope for “subjectivity, ambiguity and arbitrariness in the determination of tax”.