The Business Line 15.06.2011
Plea to refix property tax in Madurai
The Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry has sought a review and refixation of property tax in Madurai Corporation according to the guidelines issued by the Tamil Nadu Government.
A delegation from the Chamber led by its President, Mr N. Jegatheesan, with senior President Mr S. Rethinavelu met Mr K.P. Munusamy, Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development, at Chennai recently and submitted a memorandum seeking a direction to the Madurai Corporation to cancel property tax revision implemented from April 2008 and refix the same according to the guidelines issued by the Tamil Nadu Government, said the Corporation had opted for an unprecedented and exorbitant hike in property tax, much to the discomfort of all sections of property tax payers in Madurai.
Rental values
The memorandum said that the basic rental values fixed in 1998 were arbitrarily enhanced vertically from 118 per cent to 2,900 per cent in 2008, making Madurai Corporation, the only one among all the Corporations in the State to have raised the property tax steeply. It pointed out that wide disparity subsisted in the tax payable for adjacent new and old buildings of the same size. The trade and industry were already struggling to maintain production even at break-even levelin the context severe credit crunch and power cuts. It is inappropriate for the corporation to fix unbearable tax burden just to offset its own financial crunch, it added.
The memorandum pleaded that the fixation needed to be justifiable and bearable and the revised tax may be implemented retrospectively from April 1, 2008.
