Kolkata Municipal Corporation is finally all set to launch UAA (Unite Area Assessment) for resolving property tax issue. This service will be applicable for city’s every residential/commercial property owner. Earlier a proposal was passed in the KMC house to the top civic authority for implementing UAA from April 1, 2017. Other major cities of the country have already rolling out UAA process such as- Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Patna. People who want to buy property in Kolkata, will follow this regime henceforth.
Now on under KMC website a property owner can assess his/her property tax online and decide the exact amount to be payable on https://www.kmcgov.in. (Official website of KMC). Property owners can also visit the assessment-collection department of the KMC ward offices or e-governance centers of corporation located across the city. The Mayor of Kolkata Mr. Shovan Chattopadhyay has already announced that through UAA the KMC assessment department will send tax bills to the assesses under the current property valuation. “Property owners will be allowed to pay their outstanding bills under the current method of valuation (rental base). In the meantime, the property tax payer concerned can enroll for the UAA system. We will adjust the bills after the switch over is complete,” Chatterjee said. Also he warned, any deviation from the declared statement will attract penalty.”
He also assured that the new UAA system wouldn’t prove to be a burden on property owners as it would never exceed by 20%. Asking on the same a KMC official has said, “UAA has proved to be a scientific system of determining property tax in some Indian cities. We are set to experiment with this new system. At the same time we have decided to put a 20% cap on either increase or decrease in the tax rate from the present annual rent based valuation system.”
Under the new system the entire city will be divided into 6 regions based on the location and civic amenities being relished by property owners. According to the civic body annual property tax under UAA is calculated on the basis of this formula-
Annual Tax Payable Rs.= Category wise unit area value(Rs/ Sq Ft)×Multiple factors×Covered space of building area/area of land (sq ft)× Tax rate (percentage).
It’s foreseen that the UAA system would be unrestricted, transparent, impartial, easy to administrator and empower the citizen by providing the opportunity of self-assessment.
_ By LNN(Liyans News Network)