Greater Chennai Corporation has relaxed its interest amount on property tax dues for the first half of 2022-23 to not burden people, who are facing an increased tax due to general revision.
The corporation had set a deadline of September 30 for paying tax dues for the first half of the financial year. Usually, if people do not pay taxes beyond the deadline, a 2% simple interest is added to the dues.
This exemption on interest is only valid for those who are yet to pay the taxes for the first half of the financial year and won’t apply to those having historical arrears from previous years.
However, since there was a general revision this year resulting in increased taxes, the corporation has passed a resolution to relax the interest amount which acts as a fine. “The 2% interest automatically applies once the deadline crosses. So, we have done an exemption as a special case. The exemption applies till October 15. If there is any court order, it would be extended beyond that,” said deputy commissioner (revenue and finance) Vishu Mahajan.
The city corporation has collected ₹620 crore this financial year so far, compared to ₹320 crore during the same period last year. So far, 6.9 lakh people have paid their property tax in Chennai, out of the 13.1 lakh total assesses in the city.
Out of the 13.1 lakh people, property tax has been revised for 12.9 lakh based on the general revision rates. After the notification, the corporation received 1.2 lakh grievances, of which, it is yet to dispose of 10,000 petitions.
Residents said the interest waiver would only be a temporary step as residents anyway will have to pay the property tax. “People should anyway pay the taxes. So, this won’t have much impact,” said Sathish Galley, a resident from OMR.
The civic body has been taking various awareness measures to make people pay property taxes including video messages at theatres highlighting its services and urging people to pay the taxes.
