Chennai Corporation to review under-assessed commercial buildings for property tax boost to generate revenue

The Greater Chennai Corporation plans to review under-assessed commercial buildings for property tax payments to increase revenue.

The Greater Chennai Corporation may reconsider reviewing under-assessed commercial buildings for property tax payments in Chennai to fill its coffers. The move comes a decade after its last review, and two years after the Corporation completed the Geographic Information System (GIS) survey of commercial properties within its limits.

“There is a shortage of funds for the civic body at present. At the Standing Committee meeting held on Wednesday, February 14, as per recommendations from various departments of the GCC and of Municipal Administration and Water Supply Minister K.N. Nehru, it was decided that, instead of increasing domestic rates, under-assessed commercial properties in the city could be reviewed thoroughly, zone-wise. The committee plans to suggest stringent property tax collection from defaulters in the commercial sector to increase revenue,” said Sarbajaya Das, chairperson, Standing Committee (Taxation & Finance), GCC.

The city has around 14 lakh property tax assessees as of 2023 -- both residential and commercial.

Ms. Das added that in 2022, there was no collection done after the GIS survey, due to various internal issues. “Now however, all commercial buildings will be assessed in all zones by revenue officials of the respective wards and plans to collect the pending amounts will be initiated to increase revenue,” she said.

This is not the civic body’s first such attempt: in 2014 too, an initiative had been planned, to map the increase in the number of commercial structures in each neighbourhood of the city.

Ms. Das said that the GCC was also low in staff in the Revenue and Finance (R&F) Department, and existing personnel were busy with the Cyclone Michaung relief fund survey and the Magalir Urimai Thittam fund distribution. “Hence, the property tac collection did take a hit. The committee will propose to the Deputy Commissioner (R&F) to recruit more officials this financial year.”

Sources say that nearly 30% of defaulters listed by the GCC on its website in November 2023 have paid their pending dues so far.