Property Tax Set to Rise in KMC Areas

There is more tax for property in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation areas as
the civic body has revised unit area values for land and buildings under its Unit
Area Assessment (UAA) scheme. The revision, as proposed by the KMC
assessment department and accepted by the mayor-in-council, will lead to a hike
in property tax rates of residential buildings and flats of all categories.

The KMC has made house tax assessment under UAA mandatory and about 35
percent of taxpayers have already switched to UAA while notices are being sent to the rest to do the same. The rate revision will affect around 9 lakh property owners.

Faced with a cash crunch, the civic brass had decided to upwardly revise the
property tax structure but was asked by the state government to reconsider the
steep hikes proposed. The current revision has been done in consultation with
the state urban development and municipal affairs department.

Under the UAA scheme, the city’s properties (land and buildings) have been
divided into seven categories and zones based on location and amenities
enjoyed by residents. According to the new proposal, the base unit area value of
category A has gone up from INR 74 per sq ft per annum to INR 81 per sq ft per
annum.

Similarly, the base unit area value for category B has gone up from INR 56 to
INR 62, that of category C from INR 42 to INR 46 and category D from INR 32
to INR 35.