The incentive announced by the state government for those who pay property tax dues before April 30 has helped Madurai corporation collect about 35% of dues in the first half yearly tax cycle. Of this, about `18 crore of the total `50 crore dues was collected in the second half of April alone. Normally 10%-15% of dues are collected in the first month, said revenue officials.
Property taxpayers were given a 5% waiver from their total dues with `5,000 as ceiling if paid before April 30. The incentive which was earlier provided only to residents of Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) was extended to other municipal corporations through an amendment in the Tamil Nadu Urban Local bodies Act 1998, said a revenue official.
Corporation officials said information about the incentive and offer period was disseminated through SMS, display boards at corporation offices and important junctions, newspapers, government TV channels, local cable channels and radio. About Rs 40 lakh per day was collected during the incentive period from every zone, the officials said. To offset the loss arising out of the incentive, the collected amount of money will be deposited in a bank to raise interest, said a senior corporation official.
Madurai city corporation has collected almost 77% of property tax for the financial year 2022-23 and has improved four places in the overall ranking among 20 city corporations in the state, according to the property tax ranking released by the commissionerate of municipal administration. “This incentive will help the civic body to move further up in the ranking this financial year,” said corporation commissioner Simranjeet Singh Kahlon.
He said Madurai corporation is the second highest collector of property tax in this one month among 20 corporations. First on the list which benefited the most from the incentive was Coimbatore corporation.
