Chennai: Chennai city police, parts of Madras high court premises, lower courts in Chennai and southern railway properties are now on the list of property tax defaulters in Chennai.
While the city corporation is going the extra mile to collect dues from property owners, the government properties are spared every year, a highly placed department insider told DC.
Meanwhile the property tax payers in Chennai are also in a state of shock as the civic authorities have silently raised the education cess fee up to Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per fiscal for the properties in Chennai.
According to Chennai corporation database the wards in Central Chennai coming under Egmore, Chepauk, Royapuram, Harbour assembly constituencies have several government buildings with huge tax defaults.
“These are buildings operated by the state and central departments and we are frequenting such buildings to collect the tax. The police stations in central Chennai have started clearing the tax and the Chennai city police headquarters has a tax arrear up to '5 lakh. There government housing plots also coming under defaulters list in Poonamallee high road,”a corporation official said adding that the Southern Railway had also started clearing its dues.
“We are not sparing any one and as we are forced to meet our deadlines. Buildings that are under assessed for tax are also under scanner,” the official added.
The civic body earlier used to release the list of property tax defaulters on its website but has now suspended the link, ‘protecting’ the identity of tax defaulters.
“I was paying a half yearly tax of '5,400 as property tax to Chennai corporation, but last week the local tax collector insisted on a revised cheque for 5,900.
When I asked why the tax rate had surged he clarified that the education cess has been increased by the Rs 500 per billing,” rued Mahaveer Jain of Puraswalkkam. “Now I am worried that Metro Water will also do something similar and there are possibilities for a flat owner in Chennai to lose Rs 2,000 per year for such revised taxes and charges, which had been hiked silently,” he said.
“Taxes for schools and education institutions had also been hiked and the corporation is silently increasing the tax through indirect ways. Without any value addition, the state and centre continue to fleece public with tax revisions,” said civic activist Aarani C Sreenivasan.
