The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) is taking steps to make property tax less burdensome for residents. A committee will be formed to discuss the new guidance value set by the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (KMC) Act amendment of 2021. This amendment requires property tax collection under the self-assessment system (SAS) based on the current guidance value of properties, leading to significant differences in tax amounts for citizens.
Mayor Sudheer Shetty Kannur announced that the committee will include corporators from both the ruling and opposition parties in the MCC council. The committee will consist of chief whip Premanand Shetty, deputy mayor Sunitha, chairman of the standing committee on taxation and finance Varun Chowta, opposition leader Praveen Chandra Alva, and senior corporators like Shashidhar Hegde. The committee will discuss and propose modifications to the guidelines to the government, aiming to reduce the property tax burden on citizens. The meeting is scheduled to be held within a week.
As per the amendment, the MCC must collect tax based on the current guidance value. If there is no change in the guidance value, the property tax will increase by up to 3% annually. The MCC has started collecting property tax for 2023-24 according to a government circular dated February 19, 2021. An online property tax payment facility has also been introduced. Over 1.2 lakh property owners have already paid their taxes for 2023-24, resulting in more than Rs 71 crore in revenue for the city corporation.