The Hindu 31.12.2009
Corporation revises property tax rates again
Staff Correspondent
| But the civic body can apply the revised rates only if the State Government gives its approval |
Taxes on residential buildings will be applied on four slabs with different rates
‘So far the civic body has collected Rs. 7.36 crore as property tax this financial year’
— Photo: R. Eswarraj 
Exchanges: Congress members seeking clarifications from Mayor M. Shankar Bhat during a council meeting on Wednesday.
MANGALORE: The Mangalore City Corporation has revised the rate of property taxes under the Self-Assessment Scheme (SAS) for the second time.
The elected council of the civic body approved the revised rate of taxes at its meeting on Wednesday. But the civic body can apply the revised rates only if the State Government gives its approval.
The civic body took Mayor M. Shankar Bhat’s approval for the revised rates and sent a proposal to the Government for approval on December 22. The council on Wednesday ratified the decision taken by the Mayor.
The council at its meeting on June 30, 2009 had revised the rate of taxes fixed by the then administrator of the corporation in 2007 which had come into effect on April 1, 2008. But the State Government struck down the rates revised by the council. So, it could not apply the rates revised. Hence, the civic body revised them for the second time.
The details of the rates of taxes revised for the second time are as follows.
Taxes on residential buildings will be applied on four slabs with different rates. For buildings having a plinth area up to 500 sq ft the tax rate proposed is 0.4 per cent; for buildings with plinth area between 500 sq ft and 1,000 sq ft it is 0.5 per cent; for buildings having plinth area between 1,000 sq ft and 2,000 sq ft it is 0.6 per cent; and for buildings with plinth area above 2,000 sq ft the tax rate proposed is 0.7 per cent.
There will be three slabs under commercial/non-residential buildings. They are industrial sector, business sector and service sector. The rate of taxes proposed is in the range of 1.0 per cent, 1.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent in that order.
Buildings under the industrial sector include cement units, factories, agriculture equipment manufacturing units, printing press, oil mills and dairy product units.
Buildings under business sector include fruit stalls, medical shops, provision stores, cloth stores, book-stores, bakeries and shops selling chat items, utensils and fruits.
Buildings under service sector include clinics, tailor shops, laboratories, beauty parlours, vehicle repair units and advertising units.
Vacant sites
The civic body has revised vacant sites into three categories and has proposed the rates accordingly. The tax rate proposed for vacant sites up to 1,000 sq mts is 0.1 per cent; for vacant sites between 1,000 sq mts and 4,000 sq mts is 0.025 per cent and for sites having above 4,000 sq mts the tax rate proposed is 0.01 per cent.
Present rates
At present, the rate of taxes for residential buildings stands at 0.6 per cent which is standard one. There is no minimum or maximum rate.
The rate of taxes for commercial/non-residential buildings now stands at 2 per cent. The 2 per cent tax rate is the standard levy, which does not allow for minimum or maximum rates. These rates had been fixed by the then administrator of the corporation.
K.N. Vijayaprakash, Commissioner of the corporation told The Hindu that so far the civic body had collected Rs. 7.36 crore as property taxes this financial year under the SAS scheme in force since April 2008.
