People paying taxes at a tax collecting centre in Salem Corporation in Tamil Nadu on Saturday, 08 February 2025.
| Photo Credit: E. LAKSHMI NARAYANAN
The Salem Corporation is taking various steps to collect over ₹200 crore in arrears and current financial taxes and has instructed tax collection centres to open on Saturdays and Sundays.
Salem Corporation collects property tax, vacant land tax, profession tax, water charges, and under ground drainage charges from 5.92 lakh residents, commercial establishments, educational institutions, industries, and government buildings in the 60 wards.
For the financial year 2024-25, the Salem Corporation estimates various taxes to the tune of ₹194.78 crore. As of January 2025, the tax arrears are ₹141.38 crore. The total taxes estimated as of January 2025 for Salem Corporation is ₹336.17 crore. Through various steps, till the third week of January 2025, the Salem Corporation collected a total of ₹125.48 crore in taxes, including ₹30.45 crore in arrears and ₹95.02 crore in current year taxes. The Corporation collected 21.54% of arrear taxes and 48.78% of current year taxes. In total, the Corporation collected 37.33% of its total tax estimation (₹336.17 crore). Still, the corporation has to collect a total of ₹210.69 crore in taxes, including ₹110.93 crore in arrears and ₹99.76 crore in current year taxes.
The Corporation is taking steps to collect the taxes through bill collectors and has instructed them to issue notices to people who have yet to pay. For long-pending taxes, Corporation officials are issuing notices and warnings of disconnecting water connections. The Assistant Commissioners of four zones have instructed bill collectors to collect taxes without delays and to prioritise those who are yet to pay a lump sum tax amount. The civic body has also fixed tax-collecting targets for the bill collectors and is monitoring the targets they achieve.
Salem Corporation officials said that notices have been issued to residences and commercial establishments that have not paid taxes for more than a year through revenue officials and bill collectors of concerned zones. As only six weeks remain in the current financial year, the 12 tax collecting centres, including one tax collection centre in the Corporation’s main office and 11 centres at zonal offices, will be open on Saturdays and Sundays till March 31. Except for government holidays, these centres will function all day. So people should pay the taxes without delay, officials added.
Published – February 08, 2025 07:12 pm IST