CHENNAI: Property tax rates in Chennai may go up by up to 150% and in town panchayats and municipalities across Tamil Nadu by 50% to 100% as the State government ordered town panchayats and municipalities to revise tax rates from April 1.
According to a gazette notification issued by Municipal Administration Secretary Shiv Das Meena dated March 30, for residential properties below 600 sq.ft in town panchayats and municipalities, taxes will be hiked 25%; for properties between 600 sq.ft and 1,200 sq.ft, the tax hike will be 50%; for properties between 1,201 sq.ft and 1,800 sq.ft the hike will be 75%; and properties above 1,800sqft, property tax rates will be hiked 100%.
According to a press release, a committee appointed to revise property taxes has also recommended taxes to be revised in Chennai and other corporations. As per the recommendation, while property taxes in core city areas in Chennai will go up from 50% to 150%, rates in suburbs that were merged with Chennai in 2011 and in other corporations across the State, the rates will go by 50% to 100%.
Since most people live in buildings below 1,200 sq.ft, the tax hike would not affect people in a big way, the release added. For buildings for commercial purposes, the hike will be 100 per cent while for factories and educational institutions, the hike will be 75 per cent.
While the maximum property tax for 600 sq.ft for residential buildings in Chennai will go up from Rs 3,240 to Rs 4,860, taxes in Bengaluru for a property of similar size is Rs 8,860, in Kolkata, the rate is Rs 15,984, and in Pune it Rs 17,112. In Mumbai, the tax rate is Rs 84,583, the release said. In Coimbatore, Rs 972 collected as tax for a 600 sq. ft residential building may go up to Rs 1,215.