The collection of new property taxes will begin in January 2010 and if you cannot pay them, your property will be seized by the State and auctioned, Mervyn Thompson, valuation surveyor of the Valuation Division at the Finance Ministry says.“That is the very last resort,” Thompson told the Sunday Guardian last Friday, taking a break from his hectic schedule at the division, which is busy preparing for the implementation of the new property tax regime.

Asked about penalties for the non-payment of the increased taxes on property, Thompson said, “You have until the end of September, which is the end of the fiscal year, to pay your tax. “If you don’t pay by that date, there will be a ten per cent surcharge on your tax and, for every day after that you don’t pay, 15 per cent per annum. “If you don’t pay for long enough, the bailiff will come in and take from you the value of the taxes you owe. “Finally, and hopefully it will never get there, the last resort is the forfeiture of your property by the State.”

Unit rate
Work on the valuation of properties in T&T has been going on in the division for the last 18 months, Thompson said. “Workers have been going out and collecting evidence of rents collected.” Data collection has also been going on since 2003 in the regional corporations (which collect land and building taxes), according to Thompson. When will the valuation exercise be completed?
“It’s one of those jobs that will never be completed,” the valuation surveyor said. “We will continue to collect data as we go along.”

Asked how different properties will be taxed, he said the division was using a system where a unit rate will be put on communities which have houses of the same or similar value. He said any house in that community will start out with the unit rate but each house will be inspected to see if there are any pluses or minuses which may affect the value. Describing the increased taxes as “very equitable,” Thompson said property owners can pay them like regular bills, at the banks or even online.

The budget says

■ Government using a single platform to assess all properties.
■ The single valuation agency-Valuation Division.
■ The single collection agency-Board of Inland Revenue (BIR).
■ Taxes can be paid at District Revenue offices, banks, TTPost centres, T&TEC and WASA offices.
■ Bills will be mailed to property owners.
■ Tax on residential properties- three per cent.
■ Commercial properties- five per cent.
■ Agricultural properties-one per cent.