The property owner is liable to pay the tax levied by the local body such as the municipal body and such tax is known as the property tax. The tax might vary from location to location and there are several other factors that determine the amount of property tax to be paid that includes location of the property, size of the property, whether it is ready-to-move-in or under construction property, property owner’s gender as in several place female owners get discounts, age of the owner as senior citizens might also get discounts as well as civic facilities provided by the local municipal body.
But why do we have to pay the property tax? The local municipal body provides several essential services to us like cleanliness in the locality, maintenance of the local roads, water supply, drainage and other essential civic facilities. And property tax helps in arranging the revenue for the municipal bodies that is required to fund all the services that it provides to the citizens. It is among the major revenue that municipal bodies receive. If the citizens do not pay the property tax then the municipal body might refuse to offer the services and might initiate some legal action to recover the due amount.
Property tax is calculated on the basis of the recent property valuation done by the municipal body. The only owner of the property is liable to pay the property tax while if you are a tenant then you need not worry about it. In case of any dispute related to the property, receipts of property tax play an important role to prove the ownership of the property.
Similarly while buying a property the title of the property should be updated in the municipal records. And until all the outstanding dues are cleared, the property cannot be transferred in the name of the new buyer. If the record is not updated in the municipal records, then the name of the old owner would be continued to show in the tax receipt.
The buyer might have to produce relevant documents to prove the ownership while getting the property registered in their name at the local municipal records. In the document list, you might need to include the copy of the sale deed, clearance copy from the society, address proof, photo, duly filled application form, a copy of the receipt of last paid property tax. A property tax receipts us an essential document for availing the loans as well.
Therefore, one must pay the property tax in time and keep the records updated at the local municipal bodies. Certain establishments like government buildings, places of worship, foreign embassies, government buildings etc and also clean land are usually exempted from the property tax.