Property tax

B.O.F.H. said:
You telling me you wouldn't have queried why your bill to the BC dropped by at least a few hundred rand? or missed the letters the Body Corporate would have sent out? Or missed the news stories that were going on for months about this change?
Click to expand...

I did not notice a reduced levy....very strange, but it might have been because we had a special levy we had to pay for 6 month for painting the complex.
 
Broadcom said:
Aaarrrgghhh*&^%!!! Do you work for the municipality by any chance?? That's a classic, stubborn bureaucratic South African attitude.

The fact is many properties were NOT liable for municipal tax before 2009, rural properties especially. There was a valuation period that started way back when, and then a phasing in period where the first year had a 75% rebate, second year a 50% rebate and by the fourth year you are paying the full amount.

People were aware this was happening, but when you were going to start being billed and for how much was the question.

The way they handled this was atrocious. I expected some sort of communication, maybe a 'welcome / this is how we will be spending your money etc.' letter/pamphlet as you do in the UK, but first communication I received from them was simply a very cryptic overdue bill – just a figure, no calculations, no explanation. The billing was so messed up the first bills never went out.

So, if you’ve been living in your home for 30 years, suddenly you find you’re customer with an overdue account.
Click to expand...

+1
 
bar1 said:
I did not notice a reduced levy....very strange, but it might have been because we had a special levy we had to pay for 6 month for painting the complex.
Click to expand...

Most body corporates are corrupt and ride the residents for every cent. Where I lived previously the levy remained the same and they refused to budge even.when I told them they are not entitled to the money. I sold up and I will never again do the following:

Buy sectional title
Buy in any area where I have to deal with CoJ
 
Broadcom said:
Aaarrrgghhh*&^%!!! Do you work for the municipality by any chance?? That's a classic, stubborn bureaucratic South African attitude.

The fact is many properties were NOT liable for municipal tax before 2009, rural properties especially. There was a valuation period that started way back when, and then a phasing in period where the first year had a 75% rebate, second year a 50% rebate and by the fourth year you are paying the full amount.

People were aware this was happening, but when you were going to start being billed and for how much was the question.

The way they handled this was atrocious. I expected some sort of communication, maybe a 'welcome / this is how we will be spending your money etc.' letter/pamphlet as you do in the UK, but first communication I received from them was simply a very cryptic overdue bill – just a figure, no calculations, no explanation. The billing was so messed up the first bills never went out.

So, if you’ve been living in your home for 30 years, suddenly you find you’re customer with an overdue account.
Click to expand...

No, I don't work for a municipality, but I make bloody sure I know exactly what I will be owing people when I do something....

As for the Rural stuff, I know about that, but I assumed (and rightly so it seems) that the OP lived in a complex or free hold title..
 
bar1 said:
The reason I ask is because i know from another thread here, that people who owes a lot of money for their tv license came to some sort of an agreement with a discounted amount
Click to expand...

Not quite the same, one is a license fee paid to the SABC.... this is a property and rates tax, payable to the municipality for services etc etc... If you could get a reduced payment on it, then I damn sure as hell want that same deal for me, and every other resident in the city.

bar1 said:
I did not notice a reduced levy....very strange, but it might have been because we had a special levy we had to pay for 6 month for painting the complex.
Click to expand...

Then you are not paying close enough attention to your finances (and bills), period. No ifs ands or buts on this one in my opinion.
 
B.O.F.H. said:
You telling me you wouldn't have queried why your bill to the BC dropped by at least a few hundred rand? or missed the letters the Body Corporate would have sent out? Or missed the news stories that were going on for months about this change?
Click to expand...

Actually, none of my levies decreased when this happened. As I am up to date with the property news, I would not take myself as an example, but I can understand if it happens to someone else.

All I am saying is not to judge someone without knowing the real circumstances.
 
Koosi said:
Most body corporates are corrupt and ride the residents for every cent. Where I lived previously the levy remained the same and they refused to budge even.when I told them they are not entitled to the money. I sold up and I will never again do the following:

Buy sectional title
Buy in any area where I have to deal with CoJ
Click to expand...

You do realize that you are part of that body corporate? But then again, we mostly have about 10% turn up at the AGMs where I am present, so it is a common occurrence.
 
zamicro said:
I do no know about the rural stuff. As I have no rural interests, I am not up to date with it. Is there now a property tax on farms?
Click to expand...

Some Rural properties were exempt from a property tax previously, and this changed with the promulgation of the laws...

Also didn't help that some municipal boundaries changed, so a farm that was say in Msunduzi would now end up in eThekwini, and be liable for a different and higher rates structure.
 
zamicro said:
Actually, none of my levies decreased when this happened. As I am up to date with the property news, I would not take myself as an example, but I can understand if it happens to someone else.

All I am saying is not to judge someone without knowing the real circumstances.
Click to expand...

Thats a surprise tbh, my friends who were property owners during the change in Sectional Titles all saw their levies decrease and the separate rates bills arrive... there was a bit of confusion to start with, but they all saw their levies decrease by an amount (not always equal to the new rates bill though).

I just personally feel if you've invested in property, you should be aware of costs at all times... it is after all an investment.
 
How can it only be R12,000.00 if you haven't paid for 7 years?
Or am I misunderstanding?
 
It cant be R12k...
In 2009 I told the municipality to go f themselves sideways after trying to steal from my 13th check. I didnt pay for a year and it was almost R5k in arrears. Got.the house sold and told the attorneys to get rid of them with some of the proceeds
 
bar1 said:
Hi!

I just got a R12000 bill for property tax, owned on my property.

I never received an invoice, or a bill or anything, not too sure why they remember me all of the sudden.

Of course i told them , that it's a very high amount and will be very hard for me to pay.

I always like to keep my bills up to date , and i asked if we can come to some sort of settlement that i pay off over a period of time and the lady said yes.

Did anyone went through the same procedure as me?
How much did you end up paying?

Thanks,
Bar1.
Click to expand...

Im in the situation where i just cant get mine, i have visited the offices personally, phoned the offices, emailed the offices and they just wont help me.I bring all paper work to prove ownership of property and the closest answer i have received is that the Developers still have to register, I have spoken to developers and they say its all done and I must go to the Tax offices and sort it out with them.

Its been a year now and I still am not getting anywhere.
Cant wait to see what fat bill I get just cause i couldnt get info from them.
 
Koosi said:
It cant be R12k...
In 2009 I told the municipality to go f themselves sideways after trying to steal from my 13th check. I didnt pay for a year and it was almost R5k in arrears. Got.the house sold and told the attorneys to get rid of them with some of the proceeds
Click to expand...

So you did pay them.
 
In the end yea... but had the pleasure of telling them to get stuffed
 
As I would have guess yeah... :)

The law gives the municipality the right to attach your property and auction it off to cover the debt if you don't pay.....
 
ToxicBunny said:
Not quite the same, one is a license fee paid to the SABC.... this is a property and rates tax, payable to the municipality for services etc etc... If you could get a reduced payment on it, then I damn sure as hell want that same deal for me, and every other resident in the city.



Then you are not paying close enough attention to your finances (and bills), period. No ifs ands or buts on this one in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I am paying very close attention to all my bills.
My levy was never reduced.
 
Dolby said:
How can it only be R12,000.00 if you haven't paid for 7 years?
Or am I misunderstanding?
Click to expand...

I am being invoiced since 2009.
i can only assume that before that i paid it through my levy
 
I had the same problem when I bought my current house in 2007. We weren't being charged property tax. From day one, we phoned the council, went to the council, begged the council, threatened the council and after 2 years someone on their side woke up and whacked us with a bill + interest.

I was so p'd off by this time, I produced all the correspondance and told them they cannot charge me interest due to their error. The interest portion was removed and I negotiated terms to pay off the amount. I had saved an approximate amount every month but I felt I needed some payback for all the running around I had to do to try and sort out their unwillingness to receive what was due to them.

In short, Tshwane ... you really do suck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X