Rs 6 cr incentive given to 5.40 lakh property owners in Chennai

According to a Chennai Corporation press release, as many as 1,37,760 property owners paid their taxes between October 1 and October 10. "Moreover, more than 4 lakh property owners paid taxes for the present half of the financial year before September 30, which is before the start of the present half-year," the release said. 

In total, Rs. 5.94 crore has been provided to those property owners as incentives. As per the Chennai Corporation norms, property owners, who pay their property taxes between April 1 and April 15 (for the first half-year), and October 1 and October 15 (for the second half-year) are eligible for a 5 per cent incentive up to a maximum of Rs. 5,000. Property owners who miss the deadline will be charged a 2 per cent penalty. 

"As the deadline ends in two days, the property should pay their taxes to receive the incentive and avoid penalty," the civic body requested. 

Meanwhile, residents complain that the tax collectors at the property tax counters refuse to help the aged property owners, who want to know their tax amount. 

"In one of the counters in T Nagar, the collector refused to check and inform the owners of the tax amount. When the owners seek details, the tax collectors cite crowd and compel them to pay an approximate amount, which is usually higher than the actual tax," VS Jayaraman, a T Nagar resident said. 

Even though the excess amount would be adjusted during the next half-year, Jayaraman added that several owners have already paid the excess amount as the recent revision was withheld.