BabuK
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- Jul 30, 2008
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Some Dar es Salaam city house owners have expressed disappointment over the newly introduced property tax rates which have gone by over 100 per cent effective 2013/14 financial year, The Guardian on Sunday has established.
Many thronged some TRA offices in the city, busy taking print-outs for their newly evaluated house bills so as to meet the June 30 deadline where they expressed their worries during random spot interviews with The Guardian on Sunday mid this week.
The new rates are ranked according to the value of the house, whose evaluation begun in 2010, and are applicable for both surveyed and spontaneous settlements.
Under the previous rates, most residents whose houses were located in unsurveyed settlements were charged a flat of Sh.10,000/- since their formalization in 2000 when they issued with licences to recognize their presence so that these houses could also be presented as collateral in loan applications.
The new rates have been introduced following fresh property valuations carried out over the past three years. The new rates for residential houses now range between Sh23,400/- and Sh50,000/- per annum.
Francis Abaja, a resident of Markaz area at suburban Kipunguni B at Ukonga on the outskirts of the city lamented that he received an inflated property tax bill of Sh42,700, up from just Sh10,000/- he used to pay for his seven-roomed house under the old flat rate system.
He also wondered aloud why this has come about without prior notice, but accepts he has precious little choice except to settle the bills before the deadline to avoid possible legal action.
Another resident, Joseph Makorere of Mazizini area, Ukonga ward in Ilala district, says he suffered the same surprise hike in his current bill for his five-room house which has trebled to Sh30,000/-.
He also laments apparent lack of formal notice or even explanations but is also resigned to settle his bill with TRA which he paid through the bank.
This reporter met scores of distraught residents who were caught in the wrong hop when they realized their names and plot numbers were missing from the property valuation roll.
In order to ascertain their correctness, they asked to seek clarification from officials of the evaluation department of any of the three municipal councils of Temeke, Ilala and Kinondoni before the deadline.
Our investigations show that most property owners were not informed of the new rating standards and when they would take effect.
However, an officer-in-charge of the property evaluation countered during an interview with The Guardian on Sunday that each house had been evaluated and its value taken and calculated.
Genduefa Mazenge of the Ilala municipal council told The Guardian on Sunday in an exclusive interview that the rating standards would remain effective for the next five years, after which another evaluation would take place.
The history of property tax across the country goes back to the colonial period when various forms of hut and house taxes were levied. Today, powers to levy such taxes fall under the Local Government Finances Act of 1982.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
Many thronged some TRA offices in the city, busy taking print-outs for their newly evaluated house bills so as to meet the June 30 deadline where they expressed their worries during random spot interviews with The Guardian on Sunday mid this week.
The new rates are ranked according to the value of the house, whose evaluation begun in 2010, and are applicable for both surveyed and spontaneous settlements.
Under the previous rates, most residents whose houses were located in unsurveyed settlements were charged a flat of Sh.10,000/- since their formalization in 2000 when they issued with licences to recognize their presence so that these houses could also be presented as collateral in loan applications.
The new rates have been introduced following fresh property valuations carried out over the past three years. The new rates for residential houses now range between Sh23,400/- and Sh50,000/- per annum.
Francis Abaja, a resident of Markaz area at suburban Kipunguni B at Ukonga on the outskirts of the city lamented that he received an inflated property tax bill of Sh42,700, up from just Sh10,000/- he used to pay for his seven-roomed house under the old flat rate system.
He also wondered aloud why this has come about without prior notice, but accepts he has precious little choice except to settle the bills before the deadline to avoid possible legal action.
Another resident, Joseph Makorere of Mazizini area, Ukonga ward in Ilala district, says he suffered the same surprise hike in his current bill for his five-room house which has trebled to Sh30,000/-.
He also laments apparent lack of formal notice or even explanations but is also resigned to settle his bill with TRA which he paid through the bank.
This reporter met scores of distraught residents who were caught in the wrong hop when they realized their names and plot numbers were missing from the property valuation roll.
In order to ascertain their correctness, they asked to seek clarification from officials of the evaluation department of any of the three municipal councils of Temeke, Ilala and Kinondoni before the deadline.
Our investigations show that most property owners were not informed of the new rating standards and when they would take effect.
However, an officer-in-charge of the property evaluation countered during an interview with The Guardian on Sunday that each house had been evaluated and its value taken and calculated.
Genduefa Mazenge of the Ilala municipal council told The Guardian on Sunday in an exclusive interview that the rating standards would remain effective for the next five years, after which another evaluation would take place.
The history of property tax across the country goes back to the colonial period when various forms of hut and house taxes were levied. Today, powers to levy such taxes fall under the Local Government Finances Act of 1982.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
