Land valuations go to court
Landowners in Namibia are heading to the High Court to appeal against the verdict made last year by the Valuation Court.
According to the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) the large number of objections which were submitted against the 2012/17 provisional valuation rolls for the payment of land tax, as well as the confusing announcements by the Valuation Court in 2016, left landowners with no other option than to appeal to the High Court.
The union says they also plan to submit a review application which disputes the administrative procedures for the drafting of the valuation rolls.
According to the NAU the legal representatives that represented landowners in the Valuation Court decided to submit an appeal to the High Court against the findings of that court and also to submit a review application later on.
The appeal and review application to the High Court are supported by the NAU as it is the aim of this action to correct the valuation roll for future land tax assessments.
On 23 November last year the Valuation Court gave a 40% discount to all landowners who objected.
The NAU at that time said that the 40% discount given by the Valuation Court to the objectors did not solve the problem of the valuation roll.
“The problem still is that the valuation roll ignores certain regulations in terms of which it was compiled which causes that the valuation roll does not take the production potential of land into consideration. Furthermore it does not address the problem that the valuations differ as much as 100% of neighbouring landowners who fall into two different valuation zones.”
The 40% discount caused an imbalance of land valuations within the same zone, which defeated the purpose of the valuation roll, the union said.
According to the NAU it has since 2013 been in contact with the then Ministry of Land Reform about the application of the regulations for the drafting of valuation rolls for the purpose of payment of land tax.
It said the biggest shortcoming was that the 2012/17 provisional valuation rolls did not take the production potential of the land into consideration. Various submissions in this regard were made by the NAU to the ministry, without any response.
This view of the union is confirmed by the large number of objections that were submitted as well as the confusing verdict of the Valuation Court which caused even bigger confusion, the union said. According to the union, numerous landowners contributed to the High Court action. As this action affects all landowners in the country, the NAU says it is of utmost importance that all landowners contribute.
Against this background the NAU is requesting N$1 500 per landowner from those who have not yet contributed.
According to the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) the large number of objections which were submitted against the 2012/17 provisional valuation rolls for the payment of land tax, as well as the confusing announcements by the Valuation Court in 2016, left landowners with no other option than to appeal to the High Court.
The union says they also plan to submit a review application which disputes the administrative procedures for the drafting of the valuation rolls.
According to the NAU the legal representatives that represented landowners in the Valuation Court decided to submit an appeal to the High Court against the findings of that court and also to submit a review application later on.
The appeal and review application to the High Court are supported by the NAU as it is the aim of this action to correct the valuation roll for future land tax assessments.
On 23 November last year the Valuation Court gave a 40% discount to all landowners who objected.
The NAU at that time said that the 40% discount given by the Valuation Court to the objectors did not solve the problem of the valuation roll.
“The problem still is that the valuation roll ignores certain regulations in terms of which it was compiled which causes that the valuation roll does not take the production potential of land into consideration. Furthermore it does not address the problem that the valuations differ as much as 100% of neighbouring landowners who fall into two different valuation zones.”
The 40% discount caused an imbalance of land valuations within the same zone, which defeated the purpose of the valuation roll, the union said.
According to the NAU it has since 2013 been in contact with the then Ministry of Land Reform about the application of the regulations for the drafting of valuation rolls for the purpose of payment of land tax.
It said the biggest shortcoming was that the 2012/17 provisional valuation rolls did not take the production potential of the land into consideration. Various submissions in this regard were made by the NAU to the ministry, without any response.
This view of the union is confirmed by the large number of objections that were submitted as well as the confusing verdict of the Valuation Court which caused even bigger confusion, the union said. According to the union, numerous landowners contributed to the High Court action. As this action affects all landowners in the country, the NAU says it is of utmost importance that all landowners contribute.
Against this background the NAU is requesting N$1 500 per landowner from those who have not yet contributed.
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