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Taxation

IT firms may pay more property tax

Thursday, 23 February 2012 07:12 administrator
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The Hindu           23.02.2012

IT firms may pay more property tax

Aloysius Xavier Lopez

The Chennai Corporation has set the ball rolling towards an increase in property tax rate and company tax for IT buildings in the city.

Speaking at a council meeting on Wednesday, Mayor Saidai S. Duraisamy said the property tax rate for IT parks was on a par with that of small retail shops in the city. “The rental value of such buildings is high and the companies are able to pay hefty amount as salary to their employees. But, the tax rate for such companies was not changed by the previous corporation council,” said Mr. Duraisamy. “We have taken measures to review it.” According to Revenue Department officials, the 175 sq km area of Chennai Corporation's earlier jurisdiction has 12,417 limited and private limited companies. The Revenue Department has now been asked to create a comprehensive database of companies located in the 426 sq km area of the current jurisdiction of the Corporation and identify the exact number of IT companies located in it. The Revenue Department the Chennai Corporation would then create a separate category of property tax assessment for IT companies with a higher tax rate.

At present, for companies with investment of more than Rs.1 lakh, the company tax has been fixed at Rs.100. Any company with an investment of more than Rs.10 lakh pays Rs.1,000, which is the maximum company tax collected by the Chennai Corporation. As part of the measures taken to augment revenue, the civic body is now planning to increase company tax for IT parks, officials said. On the other hand, the property tax ranges from Rs. 3-9 per sq ft.

Former Chief Urban Planner of CMDA S. Santhanam said the rentals of such buildings would increase because of the proposal and would affect smaller players. “Larger players may not be affected. Small companies may find it difficult to run business because of the increase in tax,” he added.

National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) Regional Director A. Purushothaman said: “So many IT buildings are vacant. The government should ensure that they support the business rather than taxing them. This will go against promoting Chennai as an IT destination.”

 

‘Pay property tax,water charge dues'

Tuesday, 28 June 2011 05:03 administrator
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The Hindu         28.06.2011

‘Pay property tax,water charge dues'

Staff Reporter

Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner T.K. Ponnusamy has asked the city's residents to clear property tax, water charge dues.

In a release, he said that the residents who had failed to adhere to the first half yearly payment deadline of April 15 for property tax and water charges for the 2011-12 financial year should pay at the earliest.

If not, the Corporation would sever water connection.

Action

The Commissioner said that the Corporation had started initiating action against defaulters and appealed to the residents to clear the dues.

 

Plea to refix property tax in Madurai

Wednesday, 15 June 2011 07:45 administrator
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The Business Line      15.06.2011

Plea to refix property tax in Madurai

Our Correspondent

Madurai, June 14:  

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.

(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated June 15, 2011)
 
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