Tax water tanks of KWA too, says audit report

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The water tanks of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) should be considered as taxable buildings, the Local Fund Audit report throwing light on the exemptions enjoyed by various sectors in property tax in the City Corporation  has recommended.The report says that as per the Kerala Municipality Act, a building includes a house, lodge, shed, toilet, hut, bunk and anything with a roof which is made of rock, wood, brick, clay or metal. Since its definition is this broad, the KWA-owned water tanks would fall into the category of a building, therefore it could be taxed, the report points out. The report of the audit, which was done during the period of the former Council, has now been placed on the table of the present Council, which is now looking for ways to plug this tax-drain. The report says that as many as 23 buildings of the KWA have been exempted from property tax. But complicating it, there is also the statement that the buildings have been found to have been served notice for not paying tax during the periods 1994-95 to 2009-10. It points out that the authoritative documents for the audit are the tax assessment files with the Revenue Department and the ‘Sanchaya’ software created by IKM for the purpose. However, both of them show contradictory entries, which is why the confusion has arisen. The audit report asks the Corporation to conduct an inquiry into whether the various buildings owned by KWA are eligible for tax relaxation or not. As many as eight water tanks situated in Observatory Hills, Karamana, Pongumoodu, Manmohan Bunglow complex, PTP Nagar and Peroorkada could be taxed, it points out. In the prima facie examination, the TC numbers of various KWA buildings could not be found. The buildings should be assessed and their tax status reviewed, says the audit report. They include the head office of KWA, Chief Engineer’s Office, swimming pool, section offices in various places, sewerage division offices and sub-division offices, guest house and quarters of KWA. The report states that the contradictions in the documents must be rectified and account keeping brought into more order and perfection. It requires to be seen how the Corporation would manage to do it in the coming days as it is facing big financial problems now.