Acting tough, Corpn notifies property tax defaulters

According to a Chennai Corporation official, there are around 300 high-value defaulters in the city, who had failed to pay property tax for several years even before the tax rates were revised.

“These defaulters have to pay around Rs. 100 Crore to the civic body. As the government ordered us to stop collecting tax at new rates, we must retrieve the arrears to run the Corporation. We have started to issue notices to such defaulters,” the official said.

On Thursday, the civic body had issued default notices to Loyola College in Nungambakkam and Residency Hotel in T Nagar. As per the records, Loyola College has a default of Rs. 96 Lakh and the Residency Hotel has a default ofRs. 75 Lakh.

As on January 29, the civic body had collected Rs. 800 Crore as property tax and Rs. 237 Croreas professional tax.

Meanwhile, the officials have decided to reassess the property tax of hotels and resorts in the city as the civic body is suspicious about the information provided by the hotel owners. There are around 1,100 hotels in the city.

“For the hotels, property tax is calculated based on the room rent they charge from their guests. We had accepted the rates they submitted in affidavits. Now, we are asking them to the submit bills they provide to their guests,” theofficial explained.