Greater Chennai Corporation's new tax collection record: Rs 109 cr in 15 days

According to a Corporation official, the amount was collected between October 1 and October 15. More than 6 lakh property owners paid the tax before October 15 and availed the 5 per cent incentive (capped at a maximum of Rs 5,000) that the civic body had announced.

“Around Rs 7 crore has been given to those property owners as incentive. We were given a target to collect Rs 70 crore before October 15; we have surpassed the target,” the official said.

During the first half of the financial year – between April 1 and September 30 – the Corporation had collected Rs 374 crore. In all, it has collected Rs 483 crore till October 15.

As per the records, the civic body collected only Rs 64 crore during the same period (October 1 to October 15) last financial year. In 2017 and 2018, it was Rs 24 crore and Rs 21 crore, which went up to Rs 36 crore in 2019.

“We are expecting to net Rs 584 crore as property tax before March 31. This includes arrears and current tax. Measures have been taken to collect taxes from big defaulters,” the official added.

The city has more than 12 lakh properties, and the property owners who missed the October 15 deadline have to pay 2 per cent penalty for the delay. The big ticket defaulters alone owe around Rs 100 crore to the civic body.

As many as 1,16,294 owners had paid their taxes on time for the first half year in April 2021, and availed the incentive. In the second half of the previous financial year, 94,900 owners had paid their taxes before October 15.