Property tax will be based on zones. Coimbatore News – Times of India

Coimbatore: The corporation council on Saturday approved a proposal to introduce zone-based tax for new buildings and classification of each zone under zones A, B, C and D.
Zone-based tax will be applicable for buildings approved after July 1, 2022. The owners of existing buildings will continue to pay the revised property tax.
As per the proposed tax system, every square foot of a building will attract a base tax starting at 2.20. While Zone A will attract the highest tax slab, D will attract the lowest. Using tax, education cess and library cess will be added to arrive at the total amount.
The corporation is levying 16 different taxes on the basis of regions. They were fixed when the areas were in nagar panchayats and municipalities, before being incorporated into the corporation.
This led to discrepancies in taxes. For example, Kurichi and . residents of kuniyamuthur were in the higher tax bracket, while Kalapatti Residents were in a lower tax bracket.
Revenue department officials said the classification of A, B, C and D zones was decided on the basis of proximity to main roads and commercial development in the areas. Undeveloped areas and slums are classified as D. The zone list will be updated every six months.
Meanwhile, when the proposal was discussed, some councilors raised objections. They felt that they should have been involved in the zoning of the regions as they know the regions and the people better.
Ward 44 councilor R Gayatri said that if the system is introduced, poor people living in rich areas will come under the highest tax bracket.
Responding to this, the Corporation Commissioner M Pratapi He said that the government rules only allow zone based taxation and not on the basis of rich and poor classification. “It is not final. Residents have 30 days to raise objections if they feel that their area has been wrongly classified. The final list will be presented for approval in the next meeting of the council.”
North Zone President V Kathirveli He said that people have been waiting for the approval of new buildings for four months, which were stopped in view of the classification of the zones. “It may take a few more months for the zone-based tax system to be implemented. Therefore, a temporary tax system should be implemented so that such people can start manufacturing.”