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Property Tax cont...
Did
you know that Adelphi in St. James was first known as ‘Stretch and
Set’? It was the first place in the parish at which religious
knowledge was given to slaves.
ALL
YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PROPERTY TAX
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Community Services Financed by Property
Tax
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Property taxes are used to
finance property-related services in communities throughout Jamaica.
Property
tax pays for:
§
Expansion and
maintenance of street lighting
§
Collection and
disposal of garbage
§
Repairs to fire
stations
§
Community
infrastructure and civic improvements
§
Rehabilitation of
parochial/farm roads
- In
the year 2001/2002 Government collected $645.3 million in
property taxes
This is
less than half of the $1.6 billion which these services will cost in
2002/2003.
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Under
the programme of Local Government Reform, taxes collected for
properties in each parish will remain in the parish and will be
used by the Local Authorities/Parish Councils to pay for the
property-related services.
-
The
delivery of property-related services is also being
decentralized, and local contractors in each parish are being
qualified for the provision and delivery of these services in
each parish.
-
The
Local Authority/Parish Council expects that the new system will
greatly improve the quality and efficiency of the services
delivered.
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Landowners
are asked to be fully property tax compliant to ensure that
funds are available for the provision of services. Pay Your Property Taxes for Improved Service Delivery!
Sharing
the Tax burden Fairly
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Under
the new property tax system, the tax burden is more fairly
shared among property owners
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Previously,
owners of 1,009 parcels of land were liable for paying 45% of
the total property tax, while the owners of 505,972 parcels paid
6% of the total property tax
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Under
the new structure, the 680,000 parcels of land are grouped in 11
value bands, which more evenly distributes the property tax
payable by all landowners
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Value
Bands 1-3: represent 51% or 348,941 property owners who will
each pay between $600 and $1,100 per year, or less than $100 per
month
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Value
Bands 4-5: represent 33% or 225,792 property owners who will
each pay between $1,500 and $1,700 per year, or between $101 and
$200 per month
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Value
Bands 6-11: represent 16% or 105,570 property owners who will
each pay between $4,000 and $3 million per year, or between $330
and $250,000 per month
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This
means that 574,733 property owners, or 84%, will pay less than
$200 per month for property taxes (Value Bands 1-5)
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Property
taxes are collected in each parish by the Inland Revenue
Department on behalf of the Parish Councils and KSAC.
Property owners can pay property
taxes at any of the 28 Collectorates in Jamaica. These funds will be
credited, by the next day, to the Parish in which the property is
located.
Under the Property Tax Act,
relief may be granted by the Minister of Finance and Planning to
property owners who may face difficulty in paying the new tax
obligations. Relief is available, as follows:
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Derating
for Agricultural Properties – Where the land is used primarily
for agriculture, property owners may be granted derating of up
to 50% of the Property Tax due for a period of up to three
years. Application forms for relief are available at
Collectorates and Post Offices in every parish. The Collector of
Taxes will, on request, assist landowners in completing the
form.
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Statutory
Relief – This is granted in cases where the valuation, based
on the potential use of the land, is higher than the current
use. For example, many people own property and live in an area
which was originally classified as residential, but which has
now become mostly commercial. Application forms for relief are
available at Collectorates and Post Offices in every parish The
Collector of Taxes will, on request, assist landowners in
completing the form.
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Special
Discretionary Relief – may be granted in individual cases of
hardship, in particular, for the aged, the indigent, widows,
widowers, pensioners and persons with fixed incomes, as well as
persons with disabilities. Relief may also be granted in cases
where the new tax liability far exceeds the previous one and is
deemed too high by the owner. In such cases, arrears and the
provisional tax must be paid.
An application form, available
from your local Collectorate, should be completed and returned to
the Collectorate. Parish Review Committees are being established in
each Parish to deal with such applications, and then make
recommendations to the Minister of Finance and Planning.
Applications will be required to provide the following information:
§
Location of your
Collectorate
§
Property valuation
number
§
Address of the
property
§
Evidence of inability
to meet the tax liability
§
Any other relevant
information
Under the Property Tax Act,
Section 10, the following categories are granted exemption from the
paying of property tax:
§
Churches, burial
grounds and rectories
§
Educational
institutions
§
Government-owned
lands
§
Lands owned by Local
Authority
§
Properties owned by
the Council of Legal Education
§
Hospitals
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