The Tamil Nadu Government has taken many steps to create awareness among people buying properties in Tamil Nadu to protect them from fraudulent rates. This might not seem like a major issue but recently many people are being affected by artificially high tax rates. Though there are many famous builders promoting Perumbakkam flats, homes in OMR and ECR etc. people have to be careful and double check the rates that are told to them.
The main reason for the higher rates may be corrupt officials. Though not everyone is corrupt, there may be some people who try to take advantage of the lesser educated people. This can no longer happen as the Corporation of Chennai has uploaded a street-wise property tax rate of the city's 15 zones on its website. There have also been allegations that the civic body's tax assessors accept bribes to lower assessment of properties. The property tax rate of buildings in different areas varies to a great extent and in the absence of a facility to cross-check the rates, many owners, until recently, were forced to grease the palms of officials. In many areas, people are paying residential rates for a commercial building by bribing the officials which in turn will result in a huge loss for the corporation.
The residents do not complain in many instances as they are provided with a lower rate of tax. But this cannot be the case anymore as the residents can now access the rate of tax online with a street-wise rate option which will provide a clear picture of the tax to be paid. Residents can fill out a self-assessment property tax form online and calculate the tax rate. The civic body will, however, verify the forms and will impose a fine on those who have paid less tax. Meanwhile, the civic body has also published the list of property tax defaulters on its website. Mobile phone numbers of zonal assistant revenue officers are also available on the website. The civic body collected a record Rs 581.82 crore as property tax in 2014-15. The corporation had even faced criticism for employing transgender people to shame defaulters. The number of taxpayers increased from 6.5 lakh to 10.82 lakh, after the city's expansion in 2011.
