Proposal to reduce property tax sows discord at KCCA
The tension at KCCA between the political and technical wings is not about to stop with the latest point of contention being the proposed reduction in property tax .
According to the chairperson physical planning committee Abubaker Kawalya, the council took a decision on the 23rd May,2018 to reduce the percentage of property tax from 6% to 4%.
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This decision was arrived at following several complaints from their electorate.
Kawalya said that the council took this decision under section 3 of the Local Government Act.
However the deputy spokesperson KCCA Robert Kalumba said the council doesn’t have the mandate to do this because such mandate is restricted to the property review court.
Kalumba further dismissed the argument of the council having received complaints from the property owners.
According to the spokesperson, this tax is one of the avenues for raising revenue for the authority.
"All residents of Kampala require and benefit from certain services from KCCA such as road construction and maintenance, street lighting, anti-malarial drugs, garbage collection environmental conservation among others which may not appear directly beneficial to us as individuals, but are vital to the community as a whole," he said.
Under the Local Government (Rating) Act, 2005, property rate is levied on property or hereditament, that is, ‘’any physical attachment to land or building (industrial or non industrial) or structure of any kind excluding vacant sites.
It is a tax on all immovable property or buildings, commercially managed like schools, rented houses, rented shops, factories, hotels, private and public universities and any part of which is used for the purpose of business even if it is owner occupied.
