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This is an archive article published on December 16, 2020
Bengaluru: 3.9 lakh owners undervalued property to evade tax, says civic body
At present, citizens or BBMP officers compute tax for each property by indicating the zone in which it lies through self-assessment.
Bengaluru’s local civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Bengaluru’s local civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), will soon begin mapping of all properties within its jurisdiction with the guidance value obtained from the stamps and registration department.
According to BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, the move comes after officials found a whopping 3.9 lakh owners in various BBMP zones to have quoted the wrong guidance value in a bid to pay less property tax.
With the guidance value providing a baseline to charge stamp duty for property transactions, the BBMP hopes to understand and record the real value of each property and tax citizens accordingly.
At present, citizens or BBMP officers compute tax for each property by indicating the zone in which it lies through self-assessment.
“As many as 3.9 lakh property taxpayers have given wrong information about their zones to reduce the property tax. Fraud is also being played by our revenue officers in finalising the property tax. They change the zones in order to favour some property owners and compute less tax,” Prasad said.
Prasad also said that the new system will ensure that entire data is mapped online. “Neither citizens nor revenue officers will be able to change the zones, as the system would identify such cases automatically,” he added.
BBMP officials also said that they identified over one lakh buildings that were identified by property owners as used for residential purposes, even while being used for commercial purposes. “Notices will be issued to all such violators to pay the additional tax amount with a penal interest,” officials told.
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Meanwhile, Prasad added that officials are now estimating the extent of the loss incurred by the local body since 2016 when the self-assessment was rolled out. “Owners will be given 15 days to raise objections if any after which action will be taken to recover the pending amount,” he said.
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