NCDC increases land tax by 70%

 By GYNNIE KERO

THE 70% increase in land tax in Port Moresby covers both individuals and business houses, National Capital District Commission (NCDC) says.

NCDC revealed this following a recent paid advertisement in the newspapers outlining a 70% increase in land tax. 

“The increase is due to non-reassessment of unimproved capital value (UCV) of all land parcels in NCD by the Valuer General’s Office. 

“This is well over due for over 20 years since the last update in 1992.

“The land tax collectable from all the land parcels depends entirely on their respective UCV”.

NCDC says there is no change in the garbage rates due to inconsistency in the garbage collection service by our (NCDC’s) contractors’ right across the city.

“NCDC has more than 17,000 properties on its record and we estimated to collect about K8 million this year. 

“Note that valuations are not the same across the city … the current valuations range from K500 to millions and only 10% of the properties are commercial.

Depending on the value of each property (residential-commercial), the standard calculation for the land tax is the value x new rate.

Example: For a residential property valued at K10,000, the calculation is K10,000 x 2.1% = K210.

For a commercial property valued at K100,000 = K100,000 x 3.2% = K3,200.

If the property has a building (depending on the type of building), an additional K270 is added on to the base tax.