Johannesburg pensioners have until the end of September to apply for pensioners’ rebate on their monthly rates and taxes accounts.
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MMC for Finance Funzela Ngobeni said pensioners who apply for the rebate before end September will have their account backdated to July 1 when the new rebates came into effect.
Ngobeni said the grace period was granted as the budget was approved later than usual and rebates kicked in shortly thereafter.
“We could not capture any applications up until council had approved the budget,” he said.
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All previous pensioner rebates came to an end on June 30, coinciding with the end of the previous property valuation roll along with it came changes such as the property value threshold increasing from R2-million to R2.5-m.
Pensioners must also be 60 years or older, own the property and personally occupy the property.
The rebate is only applicable for one property should the applicant own more than one property.
To qualify:
• Pensioners must have a gross income of less than R9 244 a month and if the new property value is R2.5-m or less, they qualify for a 100 per cent property rates rebate.
• If a pensioner is between 60 and 69 years old and their gross monthly income is more than R9 244 but less than R15 864 and the value is R2.5-m or less, they qualify for a 50 per cent rebate.
• A pensioner of 70 years and older with a property valued at R2.5-m or less qualifies for a 100 per cent rebate.
• Pensioners that receive a national grant qualify for a 100 per cent rebate.
• For pensioners between 60 and 69 years old, the document that needs to be completed can be obtained from www.joburg.org.za
• For pensioners older than 70, the document that needs to be filled out can be found on www.joburg.org.za
Ngobeni said the CoJ is aware that some pensioners were not mobile therefore an outreach campaign was started to enable them to apply. Pensioners can also opt to email their completed documents to the CoJ.
Deidré Hendricks, executive support to the MMC, said the CoJ tried to widen the net as far as possible so pensioners who have contributed to the CoJ for many years, could get a little back.
Hendricks said pensioner rebates was a hot topic within communities and the CoJ was aware that there were pensioners who fell just outside the qualifying threshold.
“But the CoJ needs to collect revenue. If we don’t, people will not have roads or fresh water,” she said.
Ngobeni added there might also be some rates relief for the first R350 000 of a property’s value.
“Unfortunately we have to have a cut-off, but there are ideas coming through. We might have some other relief when the next general valuation roll comes along.”
All documents can be dropped off at your nearest customer service centre, emailed to rebates@joburg.org.za or ratescomments@joburg.org.za or mailed to Rates and Taxes (rebates), PO Box 5000, Johannesburg, 2000.
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