JOHOR BARU: Early quit rent ratepayers who settle their arrears before May 31 will be rewarded with exciting giveaways, courtesy of the Johor Land and Mineral Office (PTG).
The reward campaign is an initiative taken by the state land administration to encourage land owners to quickly settle their quit rent arrears which was required to be paid before May 31 every year.
Johor PTG deputy director (registration) Suhailizan Suliman said the campaign, which was an annual event for the agency over the last several years, had yield positive response from ratepayers.
"The campaign is also a way for the agency to give back to the community, and what better way than to reward our clients who are prompt in making payments before the May 31 deadline, thus avoiding late penalty charges and accumulation of unpaid tax dues."
Suhailizan said the reward campaign had proven to motivate ratepayers to make prompt payments as shown in last year's collection where almost 95 per cent from the RM379 million targeted collection was recorded.
"This year, our target is bigger. About RM402 million is expected to be collected before the deadline as we have mobilised various channels of payments methods including providing ample dedicated payment counters and kiosks at our land offices statewide and as well as at several Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) in the state," she said.
She said during the campaign period, quit rent payment counters at the 10 PTG offices statewide had been mobilised to assist ratepayers in checking their land value assestment and will help land owners to calculate the amount of taxable rates charges for the type of land use, namely for residential, commercial and agricultural.
"Besides over the counter method, quit rent payment is made simpler and hassle-free via the online payment system that is available through the Johor Online Payment portal," she said.
Suhailizan said the online payment portal which links up with the agency digital transaction services was accessible at https://onlinepayment.johor.gov.my.
"Since the introduction of the online payment system, it has become more convenient for ratepayers to make their payments without having to leave their homes and at their own time," she said, adding that last year quit rent payment via the online payment portal totalled RM10 million.
Suhailizan said to encourage more land owners to make payment via the online portal, special premium gifts such as the PTG umbrellas, will be given out to the first 500 online quit rent payers.
"The next 1,000 online payers will get a premium clutch bag and the following 500 will each get a special designed t-shirts," she said.
Suhailizan said all the gift recipients would be notified via telephone so that they could redeem the gifts.
"The campaign, which started today until May 31, is meant to encourage land owners to settle their quit rent arrears before the deadline as stipulated under the Land Act 1965 (Kanun Tanah Negara 1965)," she said.
Suhailizan said failure to comply with the stipulated payment period will result in land owners being penalised with late payment penalty charges.