How to pay property tax in Chennai?

Paying your property tax time and in the right amount is crucial to avoid penalties or any other action against your property. To do so, you would need to understand how your property tax is calculated and the procedure to pay it.

Without wasting any time, let’s dive into all that you need to know to pay your property tax in Chennai.

Greater Chennai Corporation 

The Greater Chennai Corporation was previously called the Corporation of Chennai and the Corporation of  Madras before that. The Greater Chennai Corporation was formed in 1687 as the Corporation of Madras under King James II. This makes it one of the oldest municipal bodies existing in the Commonwealth of Nations, outside Great Britain. Not just that, it is also one of the oldest civic bodies of a city globally, second to the City of London.

The Greater Chennai Corporation governs an area of 426 square kilometres and over 200 zones, making it the largest civic body in Tamil Nadu.

Some of the main functions of the Greater Chennai Corporation are to undertake the initiatives required to clean up Chennai and maintain the roads, flyovers, streetlights, and other transit and social infrastructure. 

In August of 2017, the Chennai High Court reprimanded the Greater Chennai Corporation for a revenue loss of INR 1500 Crore. This was due to the non-revision of property tax in the city since 1998.

Also Read: Pay Property Tax Mumbai

Assessment And Payment Of Property Tax In Chennai: Online

The Greater Chennai Corporation allows individuals to create an account and assess the value of their property tax online. The online portal requires you to fill in details of your property like the zone, location, area, etc. to assess your property tax.

You can pay your property tax for Chennai online by following these simple steps:

Step 1: Log on to the Chennai government website linked above.

Step 2: Under the Online Civic Services tab, you will find the ‘Online Payment’ option, click that.

Step 3: Fill in all the required details like your zone number, ward number, sub number, and your bill number. You can find this information on any previously paid tax receipts for the property you wish to file the property tax for.

Step 4: In case you don’t have the aforementioned information, you can also search your property using an old or new bill number.

Step 5: Once all your information is filled in, press enter. You will be redirected to a new page containing the amount that you need to pay for your property tax. Select the assessment period and you will be able to make the payment.

Step 6: Once the payment goes through you will be notified of the same via text.

Assessment And Payment Of Property Tax In Chennai: Offline

Any individual owning a property in the city of Chennai, that requires to assess their property tax offline, appeal their property tax or transfer the property tax needs to follow the following procedure. 

Step 1: To start the assessment process, you will need to fill out and submit an application form, copies of the relevant documents registered in your name, and a receipt of the last taxes paid by you. These documents need to be submitted at the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable Tv Corporation Limited (TACTV) counters. These counters are located at the zonal offices, headquarters and the Greater Chennai Corporation premises.

Step 2: You will receive a confirmation of your submission through SMS. Post this, an assessor will be assigned to your case.

Step 3: The assessor will be responsible for then measuring your property and submitting a proposal to the officer concerned.

Step 4: The officer will then do a field survey and inspection of your property and submit the proposal to the Assessment Committee if everything holds up.

Step 5: A random check will be conducted on all the properties submitted for the assessment to the Assessment Committee to verify and approve the proposal.

Step 6: Once the Assessment Committee approves your proposal you will receive a text informing you of the same.

To pay your property tax post your assessment gets approved, you will be required to make out a cheque or a demand draft to “The Revenue Officer, Corporation of Chennai”. You can then submit this Demand Draft or Cheque to any of the following:

1. Authorised Banks

2. Tax Collectors

3. Tamil Nadu Government’s E-Seva Centres

4. Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable Television Corporation (TACTC)

Cash can also be submitted to make the payment of your property tax to either of these authorised banks:

1. Canara Bank

2. City Union Bank

3. HDFC 

4. IDBI

5. Indian Overseas Bank 

6. Indusind Bank

7. Karur Vysya Bank 

8. Kotak Mahindra Bank

9. Lakshmi Vilas Bank

10. Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank

11. Yes Bank 

Due Date And Penalty On Non-Payment Of Property Tax In Chennai

The due date for the property tax for individuals that own a property in Chennai is March 31 and September 31 of each year. 1% of penalty on the property tax is applicable in case an individual fails to pay the tax before or on the due date.

Also Read: Pay Property Tax Lucknow

Exemptions And Concessions On Chennai Property Tax

Before 2018, every private educational institution in the city of Chennai was exempt from paying the property tax. However, in March 2018, this exemption was revoked by the city council. As of now, the only institutions exempt from paying the property tax in Chennai are either buildings owned by foreign missions or the central government of India. 

Foreign Missions, also known as diplomatic missions, are foreign embassies, high commissions, representative offices, and other delegations offices. However, honorary consulates are not considered a part of foreign missions.

Concessions from the payment of property tax n Chennai are as follows:

1. From the property tax, 10% library cess is calculated.

2. 20% rebate is provided on the monthly rental value for structures that do not have terrace roofing. For example, properties with tiled or thatched roofing.

3. Any properties that haven’t been leased out or rented, i.e. are occupied by the owner themselves also receive a 25% rebate on the monthly rental value.

4. Any commercial properties occupied by the owner also receive a rebate in the monthly rental value. However, the rebate in such cases is much lower at just 10%.

5. After a building has been completed for the first four years since its construction, a rebate of 1% will be offered every year. The maximum rebate that can be granted is 25%. 

Simply to check an estimated property tax amount, an individual can use the tax calculator provided by the government. To access this calculator click here.

To use this calculator, you would require the floor details and the details of the residential and non-residential portions of your property. However, keep in mind that this calculator only provides an estimate and is supposed to be used only for testing purposes.

Now that you have all the information about how to properly pay your Chennai Property Tax, make sure you pay it before or on the due date and no later.

Also Read: Stamp Duty on Property Purchase