Chennaities may have been complaining about the increase in property tax (which was recently rolled back) last year, but 62% of the 12 lakh property tax assesses in the city have paid the tax in the first half of this financial year.
Greater Chennai Corporation data shows at least 10% more assessees have paid taxes in the first half of this year compared to the same period in the last fiscal. The corporation has collected around ₹700 crore this year, which is at least ₹300 crore more than the collection during the period last year.
This, however, will not benefit the corporation as the rollback will make it poorer by around ₹400 crore. Those who paid the revised tax will get the extra money adjusted against the next payment.
An increase in cashless payments has helped collection. “Many residents have opted to pay online or at e-seva centres. Tax collectors have also gone to homes with point-of-sale machines,” said an official. Many residents and associations had complained that the revision was too high. The corporation, however, argued that property tax rates in Chennai are lower than those of Mumbai and Bengaluru.
“It ranges from 50 paise per square feet for residential to ₹18 per square feet for commercial, depending on the street. People pay many times this amount for monthly maintenance,” said a corporation official.
Property tax in core areas of Chennai have not been revised since 1998. However, areas annexed to the corporation in 2011 like Alandur and Ambattur zone, already had high tax rates imposed by the erstwhile local bodies.
The corporation has a monthly expenditure of around ₹130-₹150 crore, including salaries and payments to contractors. It gets around ₹70 crore from the state and the Centre. The rest has to be made through property tax collection. “It is with the surplus that we carry out civic projects,” said an official.
Sources said the Corporation will now begin a drive to collect property tax from the remaining 4 lakh assessees, at pre-April 1, 2018 rates
