Chennai Corporation puts property tax reassessment on hold
The Greater Chennai Corporation has suspended its property tax reassessment drive with immediate effect after receiving several petitions seeking its withdrawal.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the civic body said property tax would return to the levels applicable before the reassessment. Residents who have already paid the revised amount will not lose the money; the additional payment will instead be carried forward and adjusted against their tax dues for subsequent half-years.
The corporation had launched the reassessment without changing the existing property tax rates, targeting properties that it believed had been assessed below their actual value. Notices carrying revised demands were issued to around 3.49 lakh property owners.
According to corporation officials, 28,382 assessees had accepted the revised assessments. The exercise had generated an additional Rs 11.10 crore in collections by Thursday.
The reassessment was undertaken at a time when the corporation was facing financial pressure and was looking to improve revenue by bringing under-assessed properties into line with their actual tax liability.