With the deadline for paying the property tax for the first half of 2022-23 ending by September 30, only 52% of the assessees in Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) limits have paid the tax so far.
Of the roughly 13 lakh assessees in the city, around 6.88 lakh have paid their property tax so far. The amount collected stood at ₹570 crore. The compliance is relatively better among the large taxpayers with properties measuring 50,000 square feet and more. About 63% of them have made the payment.
With more people expected to pay in the last week of the deadline, the Corporation is expecting the collection to reach around ₹650 crore by September 30, beyond which the civic body may impose a penalty for the delayed payment.
Despite nearly half of the assesses yet to pay their tax, it is noteworthy that the tax of ₹570 crore collected so far for the half-yearly period from April to September in 2022-23 has crossed 75% of the property tax collected in 2021-22 for the full year period. This significant increase in the tax collection is primarily due to the revision in property tax that came into effect from April 1, 2022.
Appealing to the public to pay their property tax for the April to September period by September 30, Corporation Deputy Commissioner (Revenue and Finance) Vishu Mahajan said that minor glitches in the online payment system had been addressed. He said that while the civic body did receive some complaints about payments being stuck in pending state for a long time, the same had been addressed after discussions with the banks providing the payment gateways.
Around 60% of all the payments received so far were through the online mode, he said. “Prior to the pandemic, this was very low. The pandemic and availability of UPIs (Unified Payment Interface) have significantly boosted online mode of payment,” he said.
GCC has made options available in its website for the public to check their taxes, how it has been calculated and make the payment.
5,000 petitions
More than 5,000 people have raised objections to their property tax assessment based on revised calculations.
With each of these complaints requiring direct hearing by officials, sources in the Corporation said that these complaints were being addressed gradually.
