Cash-strapped Corporation denies exemption of property tax to defence personnel

According to a Chennai Corporation source, the request could not be approved as there is no provision in the existing law to provide exemption to the defence personnel. 

“Also, we are giving exemption only to buildings which host charitable activities. Already we are in a tight situation as far as revenue is concerned,” the source said. When asked, an official clarified that the civic body had recently amended its rule to collect property tax from educational institutions. “We are looking to increase tax revenue by implementing tax on the exempted categories. We are collecting property tax from St George Fort that houses State assembly,” he added. 

Due to the pandemic and withholding of property tax hike, the civic body is struggling. As per the data, the Chennai Corporation has managed to collect only around Rs 350 this financial year, which is about to end on March 31. 

“When the government withheld the property tax revision, we had to adjust the excess payments received from the property owners during the previous fiscal against the current year payment. We cannot even pay our workforce with the money. However, we are expecting Rs 250 crore as professional tax,” the official said. 

Meanwhile, the civic body has served notices to around 1.5 lakh buildings in the city, which are under-assesed for property tax, to reassess the tax. During the GIS mapping done using drone survey, the civic body identified the under-assesed buildings. 

“All the 1.5 lakh buildings are located in the core city zones. A similar survey has been started in the extended zones recently and works are almost completed in 20 divisions, “ the official said.