Property tax: Corpn collection crosses Rs 1,000- crore mark

The property tax collected is Rs. 281.92 crore more than the collection recorded in the 2017-2018 financial year. In 2017-18, the civic body had collected only Rs 720.72 crore. “We had a target of Rs 1,200 crore but the target was revised to Rs 1,000 crore due to tax revision works. In March alone, we had collected an average of Rs 8 crore every day,” a Chennai Corporation official said.

The civic body had collected only around Rs 350 crore during the first half of 2018-19 fiscal, but managed to collect more than Rs 750 crore in the second half. It is also learnt that the civic body had collected Rs 50 crore on March 31, the last day of the fiscal.

Among the 15 zones of the Chennai Corporation, Teynampet recorded highest property tax collection, with the zonal officials collected Rs 202 crore. Adyar has recorded a collection of Rs 133 crore, while Royapuram collected Rs 114 crore.

“Apart from property tax, we have increased the professional tax collection as we have collected around Rs 45 crore more than the previous year. We have collected Rs 385 crore whereas we had collected only Rs 339.78 crore in 2017-18,” the official added.

In total, the Greater Chennai Corporation have recorded a revenue of more than Rs 1,472 crore, which includes company tax, entertainment tax, income from issuing trade licences, rentals from shopping complexes, and charges collected from community halls, apart from property and professional taxes.

Interestingly, the expenditure estimated by the civic body in terms of salary and pension to its employees in 2019-2020 is Rs 1,739.03 crore, which means a deficit of Rs 737 crore. But the civic body receives revenue from government grants to implement projects.

As rent, the corporation earned Rs 23 from its shopping complexes and Rs 2 crore from community halls. Collection from newly imposed entertainment tax increased to Rs 42 crore in 2018-19 from Rs 15 crore in 2017-2018.

“Persons who have failed to pay their property tax before March 31 can pay their defaults at Corporation offices or through online when they pay their current tax for 2019-20,” the official said.