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The Rating and Valuation Department will issue about 100,000 letters today (October 19), reminding rates and/or Government rent payers who have received the requisition forms (R1A) to complete and return them as soon as possible.
The rental information collected will be used to prepare a new round of general revaluation. The letters are sent to those rates and/or Government rent payers who have not yet responded to the R1A forms issued to them in August.
"Whether the premises are vacant, let or owner-occupied, rates and/or Government rent payers should complete and return the forms. People can also complete and return the forms by using the 'Electronic Submission of Forms' service provided at our website (http://www.rvd.gov.hk)," a spokesman for the department said.
Anyone who knowingly makes a false statement or refuses to furnish particulars requested in the form will be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $25,000 or $10,000 respectively and, in addition, a fine equivalent to three times their rates and/or Government rent undercharged.
People who need help in completing the forms should call the number on the forms or visit the Rating and Valuation Department at 15/F, Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices, 303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon. The department's website also provides answers to questions commonly asked about completing the form.
Ends/Thursday, October 19, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:00
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