Revenue reforms will simplify the process of property tax assessment.

Hyderabad- Revenue reforms will not only benefit property owners that run around for mutation (transfer of ownership) but will also simplify the process of property tax assessment for those residing within the GHMC limits.

Earlier, the buyer had to go to the GHMC’s citizen service centre, along with a demand draft, latest encumbrance certificate, affidavit, liaison documents etc., while the transfer fee was collected at the Sub-registrar’s office in the course of registration. This was accompanied by a field visit to check that the mutation certificate had been provided if all the conditions had been met.

The new rule completes the whole process right at the time of registration of the property. Once the buyer submits a demand draft for a mutation fee that is 0.1% of the market value of the property, the mutation certificate will be delivered on the same day by the GHMC.

“This is a welcome move since in this era of e-governance the manual filing of documents is a task. Also, transferring ownership on a registration date will reduce the likelihood of corruption,” said A Narshimhan, president of the financial district’s Golf View Apartment.

The revenue reform provides another advantage: property tax self-assessment. Once the new norms are established, the traditional analysis approach will be eroded, in which manually measuring of each property by GHMC tax inspectors and bill collectors would be conducted. Instead, owners will evaluate and submit the tax themselves. A penalty system will be introduced by the municipal government to monitor the process.

“If an owner under-evaluates the property, or if misinterpreted plots are furnished, including the plinth area, a heavy penalty will be levied under the Municipal Act,” said a GHMC official. According to the Act, 25 times the actual property tax would be enforced for false submission of information to underestimate property tax. For example, if the real tax leads to Rs 10,000 and the owner submits a false assessment report, the owner will have to pay Rs 2.5 lakh as a penalty, if convicted.

The penalty clause is not currently included in GHMC and only applies to properties beyond its boundaries.