Chennai urges property tax payments via social media campaign

Chennai Corporation is stepping up its tax awareness campaign on social media. This action comes as 491,000 property tax bills remain unpaid in the city for the 2024-25 fiscal year. So far, the Corporation has collected ₹1,921 crore from nearly 892,000 property tax assessees. The Corporation aims to collect an additional ₹2,424 crore by the end of this month. To boost collections, they are using WhatsApp to inform residents and businesses about their tax obligations. Recently, many assessees have begun receiving notices for payment. While total tax collection has increased this year, fewer residents are paying in many areas. The daily tax collections have started to grow, averaging around ₹10 crore. For instance, last Friday, Chennai Corporation collected ₹9.97 crore in property tax, compared to ₹7.72 crore collected on the same day last year. The highest collections are in the central regions, with Teynampet zone leading at ₹362 crore. Other zones like Kodambakkam and Anna Nagar also showed significant collections. Despite this, 34% of bills are still unpaid in both the central and southern regions. In the northern region, over 41% of property tax bills remain outstanding. Chennai Corporation has identified a total of 1.196 million residential properties, nearly 99,000 commercial properties, over 87,000 mixed-use properties, and 1,380 government buildings subject to property tax collection.