Chennai residents to receive property tax notices from next week

CHENNAI: Even as there is a lack of clarity about the quantum of the property tax hike among the property owners, the Greater Chennai Corporation is all set to distribute Form 6 notices to the owners. The Form 6 will have the size and extent of the buildings as well as the revised tax amount along with basic street rate. With the distribution of the notices, the property tax hike will officially come into effect in the city.

According to a Chennai Corporation official, the draft notices are ready and printing and distribution of the notices will commence from Monday or Tuesday. "Each and every property will have a separate notice. In total, we are going to print more than 13 lakh notices which are different from each other. Name of the owners, bill numbers and other details will also be included in the notices," the official said.

During a Chennai Corporation Council meeting held on May 30, a resolution pertaining to revising the property tax was passed giving a go ahead to the revenue wing to implement the hike. Once the notices are received, the property owners can pay their taxes based on the new rates. The civic body will also update its website.

Property owners will have 15 days from the date of receiving the notices to file appeals if they find any discrepancies in the new tax rate, size of the property and others. The civic body will hear the concerned property owners to rectify the issues or clarify the revision.

It may be noted that the civic body had distributed similar notices to the owners during 2018 property tax revision based on a government order. Following numerous appeals from the residents, the state government withheld the revision. After modifying the tax assessment method, the state government issued a fresh order to implement property tax hike with effect from April 1.

Meanwhile, the field officials are expecting numerous queries from the residents as the tax amount will vary for properties located in the same street. "During the present revision, size of the buildings and basic street rates are considered for the revision. An owner may find his tax higher than his neighbour, but we will explain to them about the calculation method," an official said.

As per the resolution, the increase factor in core city zones or the residential buildings upto 600 sqft will be 1.50 while the increase factor in added zones will be 1.25. Similarly, the increase factors for the residential buildings between 601 sqft to 1200 sqft will be 1.75 and 1.50 respectively.

For the residential buildings between 1,201 sqft to 1,800 sqft, the increase factor in core city zones will be 2 while the increase factor in added zones will be 1.75. Similarly, the increase factors for the residential buildings more than 1801 sqft, the increase factors will be 2.50 and 2 respectively. This is because the property tax rates in the newly added areas were increased while they are separate local bodies, but the property tax in the city was not revised for more than 20 years.

In another development, the civic body, based on the government order, has decided to revise the property tax every year by issuing similar types of Form 6 notices.

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