Two months ago, when officials of the Kozhikode Corporation visited P.V. Eyyathukutty at her house at Pallikulangara in Karikkamkulam and handed her the assessment form for the revised property tax, the 80-year-old widow had no clue about filling it.
And, she had to wait for her son, a medical practitioner in Dubai, to come down on vacation to submit the form at the corporation office before the July 31 deadline.
When Eyyathukutty’s son, Mohammed Ashraf, arrived last week, he was virtually dismayed, as he had to fill in four additional pages, while his cousin, who stays a kilometre away, had to fill in only two.
Apparently, the corporation had distributed two types of forms—an old one and the new. In the new form, residents have to fill in only two pages of the four-part form, while the remaining pages are left for office use.
Filling in the additional two pages is a rather cumbersome job. Each application form has a separate pull-out for the acknowledgement receipt. “However, a major concern was selecting the zone of the residential area,” said Mr. Ashraf.
A complex matter
According to State government guidelines, the city is divided into primary, secondary and tertiary zones. Any area that has a government or a quasi-government office, educational institution, commercial complex, market, bus station, railway station, or a hospital is classified as the primary zone. “How do we know whether our house is in the primary zone, as even street corners are evolving,” Mr. Ashraf asked.
Nevertheless, the good news is that property tax has been revised with retrospective effect from April 1, 2013. The new tax structure will not be applicable for buildings constructed before the retrospective period and with less than 2,000 sq ft space.
However, officials claimed that filling in the form was easy for ordinary residents. They have to give particulars such as their names, house names, place names, post office number, survey number of the plot, and village office details.
This apart, they will have to mention the date and bill number and details of property tax last remitted to the corporation.
Also, residents have to mention the total area of the house and whether the roofing is concrete, and the age of the building.
Camps to be held
“There is confusion about details of flooring to be provided. The form has several options such as high-quality wood, Italian marble, granite, mosaic, tile, cement, and red oxide to choose from,” said B. Ajay, a resident. Meanwhile, a corporation official said the civic body was planning to hold camps at wards for collection of forms.
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