CHENNAI: After the revision, property tax collection in Chennai has gone up by Rs 293 crore this half year (April-September), compared to the second half of last year. The deadline for this half year ended on September 30. The city corporation collected Rs 696 crore in property taxes for this half of the year. In the second half of last year, the collection stood at Rs 403 crore. During this period, the collection of profession tax has also risen by Rs 9 crore to Rs 246 crore.
“The revision is the primary reason for the rise. But the trend has also been to see an increase in property tax collection every half year,” said a senior corporation official. Other than making QR codes and other digital payment modes available to the public, the city corporation recently set up special counters to clarify property tax-related doubts. It also tied up with banks to provide cashback offers and gift vouchers for timely tax payment.
The property tax revision came into effect from April 1. The estimated property tax revenue for 2022-2023 was pegged at Rs 800 crore in the city corportion budget this year, and officials expected the numbers to go up by Rs 500-600 crore in the revised estimates. The civic body may be on track to reach its projected property tax collection.
So far, about 6.90 lakh property owners paid the tax while 6.25 lakh are yet to pay it, as per data from the corporation. Of the 12,300 petitions received against the property taxes fixed by the corporation, about 10,000 have been resolved.