The Times of India 08.09.2014
Civic body to assess property tax
CHENNAI:
The city corporation will soon take up a massive exercise to assess
properties in the extended areas to be able to format a uniform tax.
This is the first time the civic body will be framing guidelines since
the city expanded in 2011.
It had been found that many people
were carrying on commercial activities from residential properties and
paying low residential property tax, said a corporation official. “So we
will assess the change of property usage as well as check on owners
renting out their spaces and revise the tax accordingly,” he said. The
number of taxpayers increased from 6.5 lakh to 10.82 lakh after the
city’s expansion but Chennai still has the lowest property tax
collections among all metros.
Property tax collection, the
corporation’s biggest revenue earner, has been hit hard due to late
payments as well as by the civic body’s failure to revise the tax since
1998. A proposal to levy a penalty of 2% on residents failing to pay
within the half-yearly deadline has been pending with the government for
more than a year. Despite a law stipulating that tax be revised once
every five years, officials say nothing moved forward due to political
pressure.
Property tax is collected twice a year, before April
15 and October 15. “There are several habitual defaulters, but at
present there are no provisions to fine them,” an official said. “Unless
we bring in a fine like in the case of electricity or water tax, people
will not pay up in time,” he said. Shortfalls in property tax
collection eventually impacts infrastructure schemes and there is
pressure on tax assessors to perform better.
The corporation
recently initiated a lot of activities to boost tax collection. On all
Saturdays through September, special camps will be held at zonal offices
to update property tax records. “There are complaints from residents
that online payments on the corporation website aren’t getting updated.
At the special camps, to be held between 10am and 5.45pm, residents can
get payment details updated, lodge grievances, file legal cases and
revision petitions and discuss new assessments and other matters,” said
an official.