Property Plus
Coimbatore
Use vacant lands optimally
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Coimbatore Corporation should explore mechanisms to collect Vacant Land Tax regularly, writes M. Soundariya Preetha
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Boom time: There is a demand to discourage purchase of housing plots for investment or speculative purposes.
Even as the city attracts attention of domestic and overseas entrepreneurs as an industrial destination, its land is getting precious.And, one factor that threatens to slow down Coimbatore’s growth is said to be the spiralling land price.
Though the demand is high, not all the land purchased has seen the buyer raising residential, commercial or industrial structures on it immediately. The plots remain vacant, and in many cases for several years.
Some of the industrial associations here have suggested to Coimbatore Corporation to explore mechanisms by which Vacant Land Tax (VLT) can be collected regularly.
The VLT is normally paid (by the end user) at the time of building plan approval (in the case of approved layouts) and at the time of assessment for property tax, after constructing the building (in unapproved layouts).
“While looking at Property Tax revision, the Corporation should also consider expansion of the revenue base and alternative sources. Collection of VLT regularly will benefit the Government and the potential buyer of the land,” say C.N. Ashok, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry, Coimbatore Zone and S. Ramesh Kumar its co-convenor of the infrastructure development panel.
Those who own a property pay the property tax twice a year. Similarly, the tax on vacant land should be collected regularly, they say. “If there can be a mechanism to collect the VLT periodically rather than at the time of plan approval or property tax assessment, it will be good.”
This will increase the revenue for the Corporation and also release the vacant plots to the end user.
Mr. Ramesh Kumar points out that earlier some of the layouts promoted by societies used to fix a specific period for the plot owner to keep it vacant.
Collecting the VLT periodically will force the land owner to construct the required building soon. In case the plot is sold, it would ensure that the end user is not burdened.
Further, they suggest that the VLT should vary according to the end use - residential, commercial and industrial.
K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of the Coimbatore Consumer Cause, points out that the land can be owned by someone living in another State or country and that makes it difficult to collect the VLT regularly.
Identifying the owners of the vacant lands can be practically difficult.
However, in several cases where the land remains vacant for a long time, the value is getting appreciated and it is not being made available to someone who wants to build a house immediately.
“Housing is a necessity and not a luxury. Hence, the Government should discourage purchase of housing plots for just investment or for speculative purpose.
“It should be made available to the common man at an affordable cost,” he says.
Further, buyers should ensure that the VLT has been paid fully by the seller of the land, he adds.
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