Tiruppur Corporation brings 4,000 unassessed, under-assessed buildings into property tax ambit

The Tiruppur Corporation has so far identified about 4,000 unassessed and under-assessed properties in the ‘commercial’ and ‘industrial’ segments.

Details of several of these properties were identified through drone images and footages, and the owners instructed to comply with the guidelines on property tax at the recent meeting of the Corporation Council.

“There were demands for reduction of the property tax. The members were apprised about the slabs under which property tax is determined, the details of the properties that were unassessed and underassessed. We also explained that the local body was not empowered to reduce the tax rate,” Corporation Commissioner S. Ramamoorthy said.

As per the Corporation records, there are a little more than 2.75 lakh assesses under the residential, commercial and industrial categories in the 60 wards.

A large proportion of the assesses were still paying taxes of ₹50 and ₹100 per year.

As for the 4,000 unassessed and under-assessed buildings in the ‘commercial’ and ‘industrial’ categories, the onus was on the owners to have furnished information to the Corporation on the additional and new constructions,” Mr. Ramamoorthy said.

The City Corporation with a population of over 10 lakh after 2021 was dependent on tax revenue to source loans to meet expenditures on creation of basic amenities like road, drinking water connections and street lights.

Tiruppur figured along with Coimbatore and Madurai to be classified as Special Grade A Corporation.

The classification was meant of revise staff strength to improve administrative efficiency, delivering services on time and ensuring implementation of government schemes.

The City Corporation will be able to update tax rates for residential properties as well when advanced drone technology is deployed to deliver three-dimensional images and video footages of the buildings, Mr. Ramamoorthy said.