THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government has issued orders exempting residential buildings of up to 2000 sq ft from hike in property tax. As per the orders, the property tax for such buildings will not be affected due to the tax hikes which came into effect on April 1, 2013.
Necessary amendments would be brought in the rules, the Government Order said. For residential buildings where expansions were carried out after the hike came into effect, additional tax amount need to be paid corresponding to the previous tax structure.
Also, for residential buildings with a built up area of more than 2000 sq ft, the hike should not exceed 25 pc of the existing tax amount. As per the orders, the increased tax amount, already collected from property owners, would be adjusted against next year’s tax. As far as commercial or industrial buildings are concerned, when the annual property tax is calculated, the tax amount should not exceed 100 pc of the previously levied tax amount.
The government exempted all residential buildings with built up area of up to 660sq ft from property tax with effect from 2015-16. The modifications in property tax would be applicable to all local bodies, said the order.