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CVS from April 1
tsubba - 12 March, 2008 | Bengalooru suddi | Bangalore | property taxes
BBMP's new property tax system is likely to raise a lot of storm. SAS to go; CVS from April 1 http://deccanherald.com/Content/Mar122008/city2008031256900.asp BBMP will introduce its new system of property tax based on the capital value of a building (CVS) from April 1. The civic body has fixed the rate of tax for self-occupied and residential buildings at 0.25 per cent and 0.5 per cent of the capital value respectively. The rate for industrial and commercial properties will be one per cent and two per cent of the capital value respectively. For vacant sites, it has been fixed at 0.2 per cent. The rates of tax under the new system, to be calculated on the basis of the current guidance value of the property, will increase more than five to six times than those prevailing under the old Self Assessment Scheme (SAS) based on the annual rental value of a building. Issues relating to the taxation system were debated by traders and representatives of various civic groups at a meeting convened by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) here on Tuesday. FKCCI President S S Patil appealed to citizens not to pay under the new system and said he would lead a delegation to meet the Governor on March 14 demanding withdrawal of the system. We will launch a ‘no-tax’ campaign if our demand is not met, he said. “Though the system is all set to be introduced from April 1, BBMP has failed to release the information booklets to citizens. This is an arbitrary decision taken by the officials and cannot be accepted,” he said. FKCCI member B K Goyal asked citizens to dash off letters to BBMP Commissioner S Subramanya demanding the system be dropped. Apartment owners in the city will stand to gain as their tax rates will reduce under the new system, while owners of vacant sites too would have to pay now, he said.
COMMENTS
sorry for the delay in posting this. was sitting it for a while. useless now, but nevertheless a pointer to some thinking on this issue. [flickr-photo:id=2329452758,size=o]
Anomaly In Urban Tax
tsubba - 12 March, 2008 - 17:05
Anomaly in urban tax
Deccan herald, March 05 2008
Former member of The Planning Commision, G Thimmiah, argues that the state is not authorized to levy CVS.
For the purposes of levying urban property tax, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is reported to have switched over from rental value to capital value of the urban property. This switch over has rightly been opposed in some quarters.
BBMP Commissioner S Subramanya, however, has gone ahead issuing an order to collect the urban property tax in BBMP areas based onthe capital value of buildings from April 1, 2008.
The former Mayor P R Ramesh, does not want the BBMP to impose undue burden on the property owners in Bangalore city. But Subramanya, being hard-pressed for revenue to undertake urban infrastructure projects and to provide basic urban civic facilities, has gone on raising the rates of fees on several BBMP services and also has decided to make the property owners in Bangalore city to share a portion of the sharp increase in the capital value of urban property.
Objection
Curiously, the urban development
department has raised an objection to
the decision of BBMP to switch over from rental value to capital value
base of property tax without first getting the rental value based Self
Assessment System evaluated by an expert body and without effecting
proper amendment to the Karnataka Municipal Act. But all these
authorities have either not cared to examine the constitutional status
of a capital value based urban property tax or simply ignored it with a
“who cares attitude.”
The power to tax urban property was conceived in the Government of India Act of 1935. As per the Act, the basis of property tax was understood to be rental value of property following the Anglo-Saxon tradition. When the Constitution was drafted, most part of the division of tax powers was copied from the 1935 Act.
Accordingly, in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, under the Union List, Item 86 clearly mentions that “taxes on the capital value of the assets exclusive of agricultural land, of individuals and companies, taxes on the capital of the companies” are reserved for the central government. Exercising this power, the central government has been levying wealth tax on property of individuals and some property of companies.
Under the State List, Item 49 gives powers to the state governments to levy “taxes on lands and buildings” and Item 61 gives the powers to levy “capitation taxes.”
Thus state government entrusted the power to levy tax on buildings to municipalities. But the basis of such a tax cannot be capital value as it is reserved for the central government under Item 86 of the Union List. This constitutional lapse cannot be ignored by the people of Karnataka. Before any amendment to an existing legislation is mooted, the law department is consulted. How did the law department permit this lapse?
Solution
The BBMP might have justified the switch over from rental value base to
capital value base of property tax on the ground that many other
countries are levying such a tax. That is blatantly a stupid
justification because, the constitutional division of tax powers differ
from country to country. India being a former British colony, it copied
into 1935 Act what was prevailing in England.
The central government has not delegated nor empowered the state or municipal authorities to levy property tax based on capital value. That would have meant levying two wealth taxes which would have been disastrous.
Therefore, the BBMP cannot levy property tax based on capital value as it would amount to levying municipal wealth tax.
Taxation of capital value is entirely reserved for the central government. The former Mayor should file a suit in the high court requesting them to quash the BBMP tax notification on the ground of usurping constitutional power. The BBMP should explore alternative ways of raising revenue.
Probably the department of urban development may constitute an expert committee to explore all possible ways of augmenting the revenues of the urban local bodies in Karnataka.
BBMP Commissioner's Response
tsubba - 12 March, 2008 - 17:23
Property tax: Capital value system
mandated by law
Deccan Herald, March 10, 2008.
BBMP, Commissioner, S SUBRAMANIAN, responds to G Thimmaiah's article.
This is in response to Anomaly in urban tax (DH,March 5) by G
Thimmaiah, former member, Planning Commission, wherein he has stated
that the Centre has not empowered the states to levy property tax based
on capital value.
Thimmaiah has stated that it is a tax on the capital value of the
assets of the individual and therefore falls within the scope of Entry
86 of List I of Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and not under
Entry 49 of List II of the Seventh Schedule and therefore, the state
legislature has no competence to enact legislation. He has also said
that the tax levied is on the “income” derived from the immovable
property of an individual and therefore, would fall within the scope of
Entry 82 of List I of Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, thus taking
it outside the state government’s purview.
These observations are not what are contemplated under the
Constitution. The Constitution makes a clear distinction between what
matters fall under Entry 86, 82 and 49. Entry 86 is a tax on the
capital value of the assets and is leviable by the Centre under List I.
The entry reads: “Taxes on the capital value of assets, exclusive of
agricultural lands of individuals and companies taxes on the capital
value of companies”. Entry 82 is a tax on income and is leviable by the
Centre. The entry reads “Taxes on Income other than agricultural
income” of List I of Seventh Schedule. Entry 49 is a tax on property
and is leviable by the state government under List II of Seventh
Schedule. The entry reads “Taxes on land and buildings”. It is this
Entry that provides power to the state government to levy tax on
property, which includes component of land and building. The choice of
design for property tax is constitutionally valid if state government
legislates tax property tax based on the annual or rental value of the
property, the capital value of the property, a tax based on land or
site only and excluding buildings and a combination the above three
methods.
Capital value and rental value reflect the valuation of the property,
though derived differently. Under the
annual rental value system, the valuation of the property for
assessment is based on the estimated or notional rental value and under
capital value system the tax base is the market value of the property.
Prior to the amendment of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act
1976, property tax was levied on the basis of the annual rent that the
property would fetch. The basis for computation was later shifted
through an amendment from rental to “Taxable Capital Value”. The expression “Capital Value” used in the
Act is not however the cost of construction of building or its market
value as a wealth. It is a
working expression, which may
roughly be said to be the taxable value of the building. The
expression “Capital value” came up for interpretation before the Apex
Court in DG Gouse & Co, (Agents) Pvt, Ltd, Vs State of Kerala
reported in AIR 1980 SC 271 wherein the court observed: “The expression
‘capital value’ used in the Act is not however the cost of construction
of the building or its market value as a wealth. It is a convenient or
a working expression which may roughly be said to be taxable value of
the building and the state legislature was competent to select that as
the basis for assessing the building tax”.
Section 102 of the KMC Act provides for the method of assessment of property tax.
Under this section, the taxable
capital value of the building is assessed together with its land.
An important distinction is to
be borne in mind between assessing
the property value for the purpose of property tax and assessing
property value that an informed and willing buyer pays a willing seller
in a competitive market. In an
actual sale or purchase of properties, the parties are seriously guided
by the actual prevailing market rates. This level of accuracy of valuation is not required in the case
of property tax assessment.
For the purpose of valuation of land
and building the rates prescribed under Section 45 B of the Karnataka
Stamp Act 1957 and the public works department respectively are adopted.
The valuation by these departments
does not reflect the actual market value, but a valuation based on a
mass appraisal method. Therefore, by this simple adoption of
these valuation principles the property tax assessment will have an
objective base. Further, the
assessment of property depends on the location of the property and the
various attributes of the buildings such as type of construction,
nature of use and such other criteria.
The amendment to the KMC Act was challenged before the Karnataka High
Court, which upheld the constitutional validity of assessing property
under capital value system.
Today, Bangalore citizens have no choice of paying the property tax by
any method other than capital value system for the simple reason that
this system is mandated under the legislation. Secondly, Bangalore
Mahanagara Palike became BBMP with five of its new zones already
following the capital value system in the assessment of property tax
for over three years.When such is the position, continuing with the ARV
system is a serious lapse and is questionable.
Re Introduction of CVS Property tax in Bangalore
betashe - 15 March, 2008 - 06:37
Apart from all the objections others have voiced, I wonder just how legally justifiable this move is, considering that we have no government in place in the State, elections are imminent and any new programmes or projects announced at such a time are normally thrown out by the Election Commission.
Remember what happened with Sakrama? Another ill-considered move by BBMP. the corruption-ridden monolith, grasping desperately to lay hands on more money since all project funds are usually misused. This is not the first time that the citizen has been brought into the cross-hairs of the government's trigger to subsidise corrupt practices and systems.
Has anyone filed a PiL against CVS that anyone knows of? Otherwise some of us could pitch in perhaps?
Regards,
Betashe
That is a very good point. The govt's internal pipes through which the
money flows is leaky. instead plugging those leaks, or better yet,
upgrading to better pipes, they want to tap more into the source. check
out this article in the Deccan Herald.
Bloreans
find CVS taxing(Deccan Herald)
Mr
Thomas, a pensioner who was paying Rs 5,000 as property tax till
now, will have to shell out more than Rs 17,000 under the new capital
value system (CVS) because the valuation is based not on the rental
value and the type of construction but on the market and guidance
values of the property.
B K Goyal, who runs a 500 sq feet machinery shop on Silver Jubilee Park
Road by paying a rent of Rs 3,500, is worried that if the tax for the
shop is calculated under CVS, then his owner might increase the rent
since the latter would have to pay a higher tax to the BBMP.
These are just two examples of how CVS has become a cause of concern
for citizens.
Though BBMP officials assure that the average rise in the rate of tax
would range between 30 and 60 per cent depending on the area and
property dimension, citizens are worried that the new system would
burden them so much that they may have to stop paying the tax.
“All pensioners and elderly persons like me whose only income is the
pension, will eventually have to leave the City and go. And moreover,
under CVS I do not have the facility of paying in instalments as under
the old Self Assessment Scheme (SAS) of property tax, which was based
on the annual rental value (ARV) of a building,” Mr Thomas said.
“A sudden abnormal hike will definitely burden the citizens. BBMP has
neither consulted the public nor released any handbook on the scheme so
far. When it could spend more than a crore on publicising Sakrama, why
did it not publicise CVS?” Mr Goyal asked. The BBMP, which is
introducing CVS from April 1, has fixed the rate at 0.25 per cent of
the capital value for residential self-occupied buildings and 0.5 per
cent for rented residential buildings. The rate for industrial and
commercial properties has been fixed at one per cent and two per cent
of the capital value respectively. For vacant sites, it has been fixed
at 0.2 per cent.
While citizens feel that this is sure to increase their tax by more
than five to six times, BBMP Additional Commissioner (Finance) Sandip
Dash told Deccan Herald this was a misconception. “CVS will definitely
affect people, who were either under-paying or were evading tax so
far,” he said.
There will be a steep hike in the tax rates for properties in
Koramangala, Jayanagar 4th Block and surrounding areas with IT
connectivity because the guidance value here has gone up considerably,
he added.
are you going to use this to make a complaint? can you tell us about the general context of all this. on one side, it appears cruel to tax retired folks like Mr. thomas above, based on potentiality. he prolly intends to use that property as an abode and not as his own baccarat table. but at the same time, they are many people who are constantly gaming the system. 50/50 black/white, undervaluation, and other registration and valuation scandals, squatters etc etc. i am sure you know all about the sundry scams in RE. (not to mention the rising RE related murders) then again there is the fact that blr is facing resource crunch. so how do tie all these up?
Online and other Grievance Fora to protest against CVS?
betashe - 16 March, 2008 - 06:33
The government wants people to use this tool to highlight the problems they faced while dealing with Government officials or departments like Passport Office, Electricity board, BSNL/MTNL, Railways etc etc.
I know many people will say that these things don't work in India , but this actually works as one of our colleague in CSC found. The guy I'm talking about lives in Faridabad . Couple of months back, the Faridabad Municipal Corporation laid new roads in his area and the residents were very happy about it. But 2 weeks later, BSNL dugged up the newly laid roads to install new cables which annoyed all the residents including this guy. But it was only this guy who used the above listed grievance forum to highlight his concern. And to his surprise, BSNL and Municipal Corporation of faridabad was served a show cause notice and the guy received a copy of the notice in one week. Government has asked the MC and BSNL about the goof up as its clear that both the government departments were not in sync at all.
So use this grievance forum and educate others who don't know about this facility.
This way we can at least raise our concerns instead of just talking about the ' System ' in India . Invite your friends to contribute for many such happenings.
important link
tsubba - 16 March, 2008 - 11:22
thanks for sharing this link. posted it here http://bangalore.praja.in/service thanks
budget problems I
tsubba - 17 March, 2008 - 05:59
Bangalore civic body facing financial crunch S. Rajendran http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/17/stories/2008031759001200.htm Poorest per capita revenue generation Governor has called high-level meeting this week Amid all the talk and grandiose plans to develop the Bangalore metropolitan agglomeration akin to some noted cities worldwide, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has hit a roadblock of a different kind: lack of funds for even infrastructure development. “We just do not have the money for infrastructure development. The revenue of the BBMP will just suffice to meet the establishment costs apart from the cost involved for some maintenance work. The onus is now with the Government to provide special grants to the BBMP to undertake some major works,” sources in the mahanagara palike told The Hindu. The BBMP has one of the poorest per capita revenue generation among the municipal corporations in the country, and this has been adduced as one of the main reasons coming in the way of meeting the expectations of people. According to a recent report of the Reserve Bank of India on municipal finances, the per capita revenue generation in Bangalore is only Rs. 810 compared with Rs. 3,417 of the Greater Mumbai Corporation, Rs. 1,890 in Pune, Rs. 2,344 in Nasik, Rs. 2,577 in Surat, Rs. 1,029 in Indore, Rs. 1,385 in Chennai, Rs. 1,178 in Kolkata and Rs. 1,233 in Vadodara. Only Kochi with Rs. 858 comes close to Bangalore. The per capita revenue generation in New Delhi is Rs. 872, but the Delhi Corporation receives special grants from both the Delhi Government and the Centre. It is in this connection that Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur has called a high-level meeting this week to look into the financial needs of BBMP. As per a CRISIL report submitted last year, BBMP and BWSSB require Rs. 33,000 crore for infrastructure development, and towards this the State Government should provide Rs. 20,000 crore over the next few years. The remaining funds should be raised through public-private partnerships. Compared with special grants of Rs. 350 crore provided in the last budget and Rs. 500 crore promised for works under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (in 2007), this year’s budget has set apart Rs. 357 crore under the mission. The BBMP has to bear 50 per cent of the cost for schemes.
budget problems II
tsubba - 17 March, 2008 - 05:59
Only Rs. 5 cr. for high-speed rail link to Devanahalli http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/11/stories/2008031157960300.htm Allocation for infrastructure up by Rs. 31 cr. Infrastructure Development Department had sought nearly Rs. 600 crore Rs. 100 crore allocated for airports in State BANGALORE: Some of the important infrastructure projects taken up in the State have received inadequate funding in the budgetary proposals for 2008-2009 placed before Parliament on Monday. The outlay for the Infrastructure Development Department has gone up from Rs. 418.45 crore in 2007-2008 to Rs. 449.21 crore, an increase of a mere Rs. 31 crore. Sources said that the department had sought nearly Rs. 600 crore towards the funding of high speed rail link to the Bangalore international airport, development of minor airports across the State and several railway projects. Sources told The Hindu: “We were expecting more than what has been allocated for the department, as important projects are in the initial stage, but the allocation has gone up by only about 10 per cent.” High-speed rail link An allocation of Rs. 5 crore has been made as the State’s initial equity for the special purpose vehicle to undertake work on the high-speed rail link to the new international airport at Devanahalli. “We had asked for Rs. 100 crore, as we have the target of completing the project by 2011 to enable passengers to travel from B.R.V. Grounds to Devanahalli in 23 minutes,” sources said. The State’s investment of Rs. 93 crore in the Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) has also been provided in the budget. “This portion is the additional equity of the State Government towards the expansion plan of BIAL and contingency fund,” sources said. Land acquisition An allocation of Rs. 100 crore has been made towards setting up and upgradation of 10 airports in the State, which will be utilised mostly for acquiring land. It is learnt that the department had sought Rs. 200 crores to hasten the process. The funding will also include new helipads that have been sanctioned already for every district and major tourism centres. Sources said that land was required to lay the second runway in Mangalore, upgradation of civilian facilities in the Defence airport at Bidar, setting up of civilian facility in the airport which will come up in Karwar, upgradation of airports in Hubli and Belgaum while land had to be acquired for Bijapur, Shimoga, Hassan and Gulbarga airports. Railway projects The vote on account has earmarked Rs. 200 crore as the State’s share in the railway projects taken up under cost-sharing arrangements. While some projects have been taken up under 50:50 cost sharing basis, the State Government is funding two-thirds of the project cost in some.
BBMP's Resource Crunch
betashe - 18 March, 2008 - 06:15
This has been the traditional answer to citizens' need for better services.
Having said that it is also true that BBMP is not a profit-making Croesus (like Doordarshan used to be and probably still is) expected to shell out crores for infrastructure projects. There are enough banks such the ADB, World Bank etc to lend money. The problem arises when BBMP and its many local wings are unable to cover their own maintenance costs such as salaries etc., which signals that there has been serious corruption.
Over the years I have witnessed magnificent gulmohur trees in residential areas of the city fall to the axe just because that was supposed to be payment for a petty contractor since the cash was 'just finished'! Whatever that may mean...
Then the open sale of sewing machines meant for the brand new trainees of the Tailoring programmes meant for Women's Development, is also an old story. Even the stipends dont get paid!
One thing is very clear- that BBMP's budget making and adherence is most discouragaing, lacking perspective planning.
I recall that some Citizens Organizations were at one time interested in establishing more transparency and openness of the BMP's budget. Think I attended one of those sessions with Dr A Ravindra and one Dr Nageshwara Rao of ISEC who had done a study of the current BMP budget at the time.
Obviously such efforts need to be multiplied and possibly Civil Society Organizations are engaged in it. However there has to be more openness established and the information shared with the public. Without that crucial step, it is foolhardy of BBMP to expect citizens to fall in with CVS or any other scemes. That is our basic right I think.
Sorry if I have deviated.
no no i guess you cant answer all these issues without looking at issues like these. before the rest, are you referring the citizen's group that came up with a shadow budget last year? they even presented it to the palike. who dismissed it with a nice job folks, but next time use realistic numbers. obviously, the city cannot come up with enough resources to meet its requirements and satiate the hunger to finish funds. the bda comm just got sacked for some illegal deals. but what does that really mean? they transferred him to some other nice and cushy job. perhaps he wont have access to kosaru there, but he still will make his salary+perks and his tenure at blr should see him through until he butters up some other politician. meanwhile, some more reactions to cvs http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/18/stories/2008031861260400.htm
My wife and I were calculating the property tax for my mother-in-law. She lives by herself on a fairly big plot of land in Richmond Town. They bought this plot of land for Rs.100,000 about 35 years ago. If CVS is taken into account she will have to pay close to Rs.30,000 a year. She runs a nursery in her premises and that is her only source of income. What are the principles here? Is it that people who live in bigger properties have a greater ability to pay? One of the principles of accounting is "lower of cost or market value". Why has that not been taken into account? Where is the money that we pay BBMP going? If it is only meeting the administrative costs and some maintenance, then they might as well shut it down. What are the other cities doing that enable better revenue collection? Why is BBMP not charging for parking e.g.? As usual take the easiest path and raise taxes? Let them get back the annual tax system for cars. Life time taxes are not high enough considering the social cost of car ownership. Srivathsa
BMP's Budget meeting
betashe - 19 March, 2008 - 09:56
Sorry , I should have specified the year but cant remember although it was certainly not last year, so its not the same meeting you referred to TS! It was some years ago.
But I remember that a group of us lobbied with the BMP and the Dept of HUD, BDA and Karnataka Slum Clearance Board, for establishing more transparency in the system. Some good that came of that was the birth of civic groups like CIVIC, Swabhimana and others. But none of the State agencies committed to make this public sharing of budget-making and objectives an ongoing feature.
I had to go away on work soon after that for a good while, so could not really keep up with the local scene. But I had the opportunity to work as Senior Fellow at the Institue for Policy Studies, JHU, and my research was on Public Private Partnerships for Urban Development looking at micro-level efforts by NGOs to conserve the urban environment and protect heritage buildings in Baltimore. In the course of my study, one big truth that hit me was that the Public sector's social objectives and the Private sector's profit objectives could only be pulled together by a larger cause such as the environment or a sustainable city life, and this could only be engineered by local Citizens Committees whose members were drawn from all sectors and walks of life.
I think Swabhimana tried to do something like this on the lines of the Ward Committees or so I heard long ago. Havent the foggiest as to whether it still exists and in what form and scope.
Right now, if you are serious about doing something about citizens' concerns, we can try to start working on that. Anyway I have been calling the local BMP Revenue Offices almost daily and till this morning they had no info on CVS, no booklets are available etc.
Meanwhile if you have access to an NGO or consumer group, you could think of co-organising a public meeting on CVS, with Subramanya, Commissioner, BBMP and Dr A Ravindra, and any informed citizen as speakers. Only a suggestion, if you dont agree, please forget it. I am trying to see what can be done in the short time we have with max public impact.
Municipal Bonds
betashe - 19 March, 2008 - 10:26
Sorry for writing this second post within the hour, but does anybody know what happened to the Municipal Bonds issue that was launched by the BMP some 8 or 9 years ago for road making in the city?
Do we as citizens know where the money is housed or invested? Whether it was used for road building as such etc., etc. I guess accountability flew out of the window...
The issue of such public bonds by Munipalities has been done before in Ahmedabad but the scheme succeeded under a capable bureaucrat Keshav Mehta, who was later hijacked by the World Bank.
Whichever one looks at it, without public vigil and pressure, Municipalities are not going to budge on making money the easy way. Unfortunately they are the utterly representative of our legislatures and Parliament.
I wonder what kind of rascals will turn up as leaders, with the coming elections. What can we do about improving the situation for ourselves and our city?
muni bonds
tsubba - 19 March, 2008 - 14:13
sri bang on. for completeness, here is an article by andy mukherjee on muni bonds. i think, it is only natural that municipalities try to make the money the easy way and the path of path of least resistance. there is no incentive for doing that extra bit, nor is their any accountability for doing less than the minimum. depending upon one extra heroic personality for sensible solutions is not sustainable. i think in terms of roads. congestion --> problem --> widen roads without any engineering --> relief temporary relief --> congestion. easiest thing to think about and do is widen roads and they will do it. how to make all personalities do the sensible, and let the heroes do more than that.
Grievance registered against CVS
betashe - 20 March, 2008 - 06:34
Yes, finally got it done this morning. Let's see what the outcome will be.
The chap in charge of the Redressal procedure in Karnataka is one R Suresh IAS.
Hope this stirs some dust.
Thanks for the link to the M Bonds story. Good reading.
oh wow, cool. congrats. can you tell us how you went about it. keep us posted.
Re Grievance against CVS
betashe - 20 March, 2008 - 12:16
Well, I just used the online Grievance forum of the DPAR, GOI (link sent to you last week).
Since BBMP comes under the State of Karnataka, I followed that route. I wanted to copy paste my complaint here but couldnt, rather wasnt allowed to by the forum tech.
But I did get a reply from them saying they had received the complaint and gave me a number too. Can copy it for you tomorrow morning, since I have to write now.
btw did you read the BBMP PRO's spiel in Deccan Herald? Says CVS was debated in 2001 if I remember right. We can always counter that saying the present Legislature of 2008 did not approve it.
Anyway, let's see how things go.
hmm. what was the actual problem you faced posting content? you should be ok to post stuff. in the worst case, send me the document. i will post it for you. thanks. will get back with cvs. meanwhile check out the CAF workshop on budget
Fwd: Details of Registration of Complaint with DARP
betashe - 21 March, 2008 - 10:21
Successful Registration
Your Grievance is Successfully Registered. Note your
Registration No. DARPG/E/2008/01687
for future reference.
Deadline Xtended, Tax Calculator on website
tsubba - 22 March, 2008 - 13:16
thanks betashe for that update.
Property owners get more time
The Hindu
- Last date for paying tax under CVS is July 31
- BBMP to hold interaction with residents’ welfare associations
- Property owners can pay tax under self-assessment scheme under the CVS
- Tax Calculator on palike website
BBMP has extended the time limit to pay property tax under the capital value-based system without penalty up to July 31.
The palike has said that the extension was so that citizens “could understand the nuances and essence of the system before filing the tax returns.”
The extension comes at a time when citizens’ groups have expressed concerns about CVS increasing property taxes abnormally and have been demanding that the introduction of the system be put off till an elected Government was formed.
In a press release on Thursday, the palike said that CVS would not increase the tax liability abnormally as compared to the existing system of tax calculation based on Annual Rental Value (ARV).
The palike said the people could still pay property taxes using the self-assessment system.
But the new method of tax calculation would be based on the capital value of the property and not the ARV.
In a move to disseminate information about the system, the palike has decided to hold interaction meetings with citizen groups, resident welfare associations and other stake holders for providing assistance in filing tax returns.
The palike has decided to come out with a user-friendly hand book containing information about the new tax system, model calculations, frequently asked questions and return forms for different property usages.
It will upload a “tax calculator” on its website, which people could use to compute their taxes.
Legality of CVS questionable
mcadambi - 23 March, 2008 - 21:34
Property tax under CVS
Sir, — This refers to a report in The Hindu on 17th March. The Capital Value System (CVS) of property tax assessment replacing the Self Assessment Scheme (SAS) of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike is in violation of norms. Under CVS, wherein the tax will be six times the amount under SAS, the tax is levied not only on the value of the structure but also the value of the site. This system, therefore, assumes the form of wealth tax which is the domain of Income Tax Department. With the introduction of CVS, the municipal authorities are trying to invade the Union Government’s arena, the validity of which is questionable. The High Court of Rajasthan, in an appeal filed by East India Hotel Ltd., has decreed that the municipal or State authorities do not have the authority to levy tax on the aggregation of values of building and land. The court has cited Supreme Court decisions in this regard. This decision needs to be brought to the attention of the Governor besides filing writ petitions in the High Court.
N. Venkataraman
Bangalore
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/24/stories/2008032452480300.htm
Re Legality of CVS Questionable
betashe - 24 March, 2008 - 06:29
It is good to know that CVS is questionable in that it levies tax on the value of the site too.
Your references to the Rajasthan High Court and Supreme Court cases are invaluable and can be taken as a precedent. Any advocate could locate them in the law journals of the apex court.
If only we can devote some time to the issue, I am sure we could find more loopholes.
Cap on CVS likely
tsubba - 24 March, 2008 - 23:33
BBMP to cap CVS rates
Afshan
Yasmeen, DH
In what could be seen as some relief to property owners, the BBMP is
likely to fix a cap on the tax rates under CVS, its new taxation
system.
This follows a direction from the Housing and Urban Development
Department to stipulate a fixed limit on CVS rates, similar to the
two-and-a-half times’ ceiling under the existing Self Assessment Scheme
(SAS). “Though the rates for various categories will remain the same,
the BBMP has to put a cap on the total tax. This is to ensure that
citizens’ interests are safeguarded even under the new system. We have
directed the BBMP to implement the system only after having several
rounds of discussions and awareness campaigns with various stakeholders
such as the FKCCI residents welfare association and NGOs,” Principal
Secretary (Urban Development) K Jothiramalingam told Deccan Herald on
Monday.
The erstwhile BMP had stipulated a 2.5 times’ cap on rates under SAS
when it was introduced in 2000.
Under SAS, if taxes shot up abnormally property owners could just pay
two-and-a-half times more than what they were paying earlier or the
actual taxes, whichever was less.
“We have written to Commissioner S Subramanya to study the increase in
tax for properties under various categories and decide on a reasonable
limit, which will not burden property owners too much. Officials have
already started working on it,” Mr Jothiramalingam said. The Principal
Secretary asserted that the new system would “operationalise” only from
June. The civic body has also been directed to publicise the scheme and
educate the public soon after the information booklets on CVS are
released. “All this will take at least two months after which the
citizens will need some time to understand the system. So we have asked
the BBMP not to expect any returns in the first quarter,” he said.
The new moves have come in the wake of a series of protests by FKCCI
and various residents’ welfare associations. The FKCCI, which has
received more than a 1,000 letters from citizens opposing the scheme,
will hold a public meeting on March 26.
- Self-occupied residential 0.25% of capital value
- Tenanted Residential 0.5%
- Industrial 1%
- Commercial 2%
- Vacant Sites 0.2%
S Sukumaran on CVS
tsubba - 24 March, 2008 - 23:43
Another burden?
Will Capital Value System find
acceptance among property owners?
K,
Sukumaran, The Hindu
Have we ever thought of the number of times the owner of a property is asked by the State to pay taxes and levies? Let us make a count.
The buyer of a property has to first pay stamp duty and registration charges.
As long as he holds the property, annual tax has to be paid to the revenue collection authority such as panchayat, municipality, corporation or SEZ.
If the owner wishes to construct a building on his land, plan approval fees will be required to be paid depending on the type of building. Once the property is completed, annual tax will be levied on the basis of the system of tax in vogue. The system undergoes change from time to time. Thankfully, life tax is yet to be levied for real estate unlike in the case of transport vehicles.
Taxation methods
The administrators, from time to time, introduce norms for valuing property for purposes of determining the tax. While money paid by the buyer to the seller must reasonably be the basis for stamp duty and registration, under the guise of preventing tax evasion, guideline value is prescribed, which is again revised at irregular intervals. The guidance value then becomes the market value!
Property valuation methods in earlier days were based on the type of construction like brick, mortar, mosaic, granite, marble etc. In recent times, Self-Assessment System and Capital Value System have been evolved by some municipal corporations as innovations. The SAS was found acceptable as it had in-built checks and balances such as depreciation. But the CVS goes by the market value and commercial area consideration even for residential buildings.
Highlights of CVS
- Original cost is not taken into consideration.
- Market value will be many times higher than the original cost.
- Residential houses in commercial areas will be subject to commercial rates.
- Age of the house will not be given negative weightage.
- Land and house thereon will be taken for valuation.
Provision of infrastructure and amenities is the argument behind raising taxes. But, undue rise like CVS may be counter productive. The lower revenue from stamp duty and registration during the fiscal 2007-08 and the lower estimate for 2008-09 indicate that the present levies are high and not affordable.
Can't pay Property Tax till April 21 ?
somaashekar - 10 April, 2008 - 08:27
People cannot Pay property tax at present in bangalore till 21st of april??? And we don"t get a copy of the order from the officials in corporation office, bangalore city. Please help.... To get a copy of this.... Or suggest from where to get this copy
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