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KOLKATA: Good news for property owners. Sensing that introduction of the new Unit Area Assessment (UAA) system of property valuation may be delayed, the assessment department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to levy a flat 10% tax on the annual valuation of properties. Under the current system, KMC assessment department inspectors visit residential and commercial buildings every six years for a general revaluation (GR). Taxes levied on these properties then depend on additions or alterations made to them.

Under the current valuation method, KMC can levy taxes from 20% to 40% of a property's annual valuation (AV) which, in turn, is based on changes made to a property. Under UAA, the entire city has been divided into seven property zones. And the per-square-feet rate of a property will depend on the zone in which it is located. After extending mandatory relief on properties if they are old, rented out and other criteria, KMC will impose a flat 10% tax on properties located in different zones (A to G).

Maintaining parity with the new system (UAA), which KMC plans to introduce in a year, the civic body has decided to levy a flat 10% tax on existing properties till the new method is introduced. In a recent circular, municipal commissioner Arnab Roy asked KMC assessment department officials to abide by the new rules while conducting GR on existing properties. Those who own properties on which renewal of annual valuation (AV) is pending will receive a special relief from KMC.

The civic body will take some more time to fine-tune different set of rules before introducing the UAA method for property valuation. The Trinamool Congress-run KMC board has decided to exercise caution before adopting the new system for several reasons. First, the civic body has been flooded with complaints from residents across the city. These poured in once KMC sought feedback from property owners after classifying the city's properties into seven zones. According to a senior KMC assessment department official, more than 100 complaints have been sent to the civic headquarters.

Sources in the KMC assessment department said that some "necessary" changes would be made based on the feedback received from property owners. Some qualified valuers (those who determine valuation of a property) have expressed apprehension that under the new system, values of properties owned by the middle class would be much higher. This would lead to a hike in payable property tax. "We are in favour of more discussions on the subject since we have received some adverse comments against UAA. Maybe we will have to change the rates fixed for different locations based on amenities enjoyed by property owners," said a member of the anomaly review committee constituted by the civic body for rectification of the new method.