Owners of vacant lands in Chennai city will have to pay property tax similar to the residents of municipalities in other parts of the State.
To augment its revenue, the Chennai Corporation has planned to levy property tax on vacant lands on area basis. The civic body’s Town Planning Section will grant building approval only after the property tax assessment and payment for the vacant lands are made by the owner concerned. Municipalities that were merged with the Chennai Corporation had been collecting the tax for vacant land following a government order in 2009. After the merger, the tax was not collected by the corporation. The councils of Town Panchayats, Third Grade Municipalities and Municipalities that were merged were also empowered to fix the rate of property tax on vacant lands that were not used for agricultural purposes. The maximum rate per square foot in a local body was fixed at 60 paise. The minimum rate was 10 paise, said an official.
