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Hunt on for tax defaulters
30/03/2009 The Star By Fazleena Aziz
THE Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) went on an operation blitz to track down
assessment rate defaulters on Friday.
Their target was the Pantai Panorama Condominium in Pantai Dalam.
Pay up: Mohamad showing the cheque he received from the owner at Villa Flora
Condominium.
The team, including 40 DBKL personnel and the police, were met with
resistance from one of the houseowners.
The tenant refused to open the door for the officers and did not cooperate
with the DBKL officers.
The outstanding assessment tax for the unit was RM11,154.
She kept her door closed and insisted that some payment had been made.
After waiting for nearly three hours, the tenant managed to arrange for a
payment of RM1,000, which was 1/12 of the payment required.
The tenant has said that the balance payment will be made to the DBKL.
The officer-in-charge of the operation was the DBKL finance department
deputy director Mohamad Hamim, who waited patiently throughout the drama to
resolve the matter.
“Usually in cases where the owners are not at home, we would seal the
premises and paste the H form on the door,” he said adding that there are
laws allowing them to break into the premises.
At another unit in Villa Flora Apartment the DBKL had a much easier time in
collecting the payment.
The owner has an outstanding payment of RM15,574.
As soon as the officers rang the bell and explained the situation at hand,
the owner invited them in to talk.
About 20 minutes later, Mohamad appeared with a cheque for half of the
payment (RM7,787).
Mohamad said the owner had agreed to make the rest of the payment next week.
As of February, the total outstanding amount of assessment tax for the DBKL
is RM358.5mil. From January to March 21, 731 commercial and residential
units were visited.
The DBKL has collected RM174,031 from the total amount of RM2,819,034 for
the 731 units.
The operation is carried out under the 1976 Local Government Act, Section
148, where the local authorities can seize or confiscate any moveable items
belonging to the owner or tenant of the premises, who have not paid their
assessment tax. |
