Advance Notice on Vacancy of Building Mandatory for Remission of Property Tax: Kerala HC [Read Order]

In a recent decision the Kerala High Court observed that advance notice on vacancy of building mandatory for remission of property tax.

The present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed questioning the Ext.P9 order passed by the Secretary of Kalamassery Municipality on 13.02.2023, whereby the petitioner’s application in Ext.P4 for waiving the property tax has been rejected.

The petitioner, PN Saseendran had paid the property tax of the said building for the year 2016-17 to the respondent Municipality. According to the petitioner, the petitioner could not conduct any business from the said building, and the building remained vacant from the date of its construction. The petitioner had informed the Municipality about the building lying vacant. The petitioner had submitted an application in 2020 before the Secretary, Kalamassery Municipality, requesting to relax the property tax on the building for the reason that the building was lying vacant.

No decision was taken on the said application, and thereafter, the petitioner filed an application requesting the respondents to allow the petitioner to pay the property tax for the current half-year so that the petitioner would conduct the business from the premises of the said building. It was also said that the concerned Ward Councillor had also submitted a request to accept the building tax for the current half-year so that the petitioner could start his business from the said building.

When no decision was taken to grant remission of property tax and the request for acceptance of the property tax for the current half-year was not accepted, the petitioner approached the High Court and it was disposed of with direction to the Secretary of the Municipality to consider and pass necessary orders.

Section 239 of the Kerala Municipality Act entitles the owner of the building to claim remission of property tax if the building has been vacant or unlet for a half-year and if the owner has already paid the tax for the half-year in which the building has remained vacant, he would be entitled to get a refund or the tax amount paid would be adjusted in the succeeding year.

A Single Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh observed that “In the present case, it is evident that after 2020-21, no valid notice has been delivered as is required under subsection (3) of Section 239 of the Kerala Municipality Act. In the absence of the notice, there arises no occasion for the Municipality to grant remission of the property tax as claimed by the petitioner. Delivery of notice by the owner in advance to claim remission in the succeeding half-year of the financial year is sine qua non to claim remission. Therefore, I do not find that the impugned order suffers from any illegality or jurisdictional error. The writ petition has no merit or substance, which is hereby dismissed.”

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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