Household items of tax defaulters will be seized, warns PJ council

PETALING JAYA (June 3): The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), Selangor, will be taking action against defaulters who failed to pay their assessment tax amounting to RM2.97 million.

MBPJ has identified 1,822 households that have failed to pay their assessment tax for 2014.

The local authority has set up a task force of 20 enforcement officers who will be raiding the homes of the defaulters from June 6 to Dec 31.

The enforcement team is empowered to confiscate "movable properties" such as television sets, refrigerators, hi-fi sets and other appliances.

Petaling Jaya deputy mayor Johary Anuar said the council had identified several low-cost housing schemes which had the highest number of defaulters.

"We are focusing on residents at the low-cost housing schemes because they haven't paid their taxes for a long time. Some have even defaulted for more than 10 years.

"Their excuse is that MBPJ didn't provide good service and that was why they had refused to pay," he said, adding that the city council had patched up the roads, collected garbage and fixed the lighting in the areas.

Among the places MBPJ will be targeting are PJS 1/52, PJS 1/21, Taman Desaria, Damai Apartment, Desa Mentari, Medan Cahaya, Impian Baiduri, Flora Damansara and PJU 10.

Johary said the enforcement team would be assisted by the police during the operations.

"We have already issued the defaulters notices under Section 171 of the Local Government Act 1976 in April. If they fail to settle their taxes then we will take action," he said.

Johary said that the tax per household averaged at RM140 a year. He added that in some areas, the taxes could be as low as RM40.

"Those who have difficulty paying can come to MBPJ and we will work out an instalment plan.

"But this will depend on our evaluation to determine if the household is from the hardcore poor category. If they can afford to pay their Astro bill, then I believe they can also pay their taxes," he said.

Johary said that during their operation on defaulters in 2010 and 2011, MBPJ had managed to collect RM342,630 in assessment tax from the low-cost housing schemes.

However, he said, enforcement was not carried out in 2013 and 2014.