Property tax computation made available in GCC website

CHENNAI: Following the prodding from the Madras High Court and requests from residents, the Greater Chennai Corporation has introduced a feature in its official website for property owners in the city to calculate their revised property tax rates.

A Chennai Corporation official said that the new feature has been added to the website on Wednesday. "Using the new feature, property owners can know the computation of tax rates. To verify the property tax, owners should link their mobile number with the property tax id, " the official said.

During the property tax revision in 2018, the civic body provided the feature in the website so that residents could calculate their taxes. However, the State government withheld the revision.

Presently, the civic body has been sending the tax revision notices to the owners. "There are more than 13 lakh properties in the city. Notices are being sent to them. The property owners are allowed to send their appeals or objections within 15 days after the receipt of the notices. The number of appeals are very few when compared to the appeals received in 2018," the official said.

He added that the online computation would reduce the number of appeals as most of the appeals are pertaining to the computation method. Recently, T Nagar Residents Welfare Association sent a petition to the civic body requesting to provide the detailed computation along with the revision notices. The association pointed out that the notices only provide the information regarding the old rate and the revised rate.

A few days ago, the Madras High Court passed an interim order directing the Chennai Corporation to circulate the computation sheet to give clarity on the method of assessment to ensure that the computation is in line with the mandate of the provisions of Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919.

Gaiety Palace sealed:

Greater Chennai Corporation has sealed the Gaiety Palace in Chintadripet for failing to pay property tax on Wednesday morning. Gaiety Palace is located on land where the famous Gaiety Theatre once stood.

"The management of the commercial complex has a property tax default of more than Rs. 10 lakh. Despite notices, the management failed to pay up the tax," an official said.