By Vernon Khelawan Thursday, November 19 2009

IN A mere six weeks the Government’s controversial property tax law will come into force. To sensitise property owners about the new tax the Ministry of Finance has put out a full colour eight-page booklet headlined “Fast Facts on Property Tax”.

Published in a question and answer format, the booklet contains 20 questions and answers as the ministry tries to answer some of the most asked questions relative to the tax. It also gives examples of how the tax will be calculated in the case of residential properties, an industrial property with plant and equipment as well as agricultural property, including farms buildings.

It also provides a table which calculates the tax on residential property. It begins with a low monthly rental value of $1,500 on which the tax to be paid is $486. The highest monthly rental value provided is $5,000 and the tax on such a property will be $1,620.

It also explodes the myth that persons living in government housing units do not have to pay the tax. The booklet explains, “Property tax must be paid by every property owner.”

There are a few exceptions, “Persons receiving disability grants, public assistance grants and senior citizen grants may apply to the Board of Inland Revenue to have their payment of tax (and interest which will accumulate for the time the tax remains unpaid) deferred until such time as they can pay.”

If a homeowner is operating a small business at his/her home the tax will be assessed by its dominant in this case residential (three percent) and not commercial (five percent).

The booklet assures that property tax bills would be in the mail by March 31 2010. Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira has said that property tax legislation will be brought to Parliament before the end of this year. Last Saturday, the Congress of the People (COP) held an “Axe the Tax” rally in Port-of-Spain to call on citizens to reject the proposed property tax.