By Johan Cloete
Even if your municipal valuation is accurate, please also verify other information in the valuation roll such as property size, ownership and the use category. If the use category is incorrect you could pay up to 4 times more property tax than what is required. The use category allocated to your property will determine the tariff applied to the municipal value and result in the property taxes due to the municipality.
Typical errors are, improved property listed as vacant, property used for residential purposes are listed as business premises or agricultural use property is described as a residential property. Often property use is confused with zoning. Even if the property is zoned for business use a property can only be taxed according to the actual use.
What if I have a home office, does my property get taxed as a commercial property? Typically the predominant use is considered as the taxable use based on the majority area used, but each municipality has a different rating policy. The best is to refer to your local municipal rating policy to understand how multiple use is interrupted.
For an accurate value, size and proof of ownership, ValueCheck offers a cost-effective motivation report that can be submitted to the municipal valuer to help motivate the correction of errors on the general valuation roll.
