CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Alliance of Resident Welfare Associations (TNARWA) has urged the state government to initiate an extensive and transparent audit of residential and commercial buildings. They assert that widespread property tax evasion and corrupt assessment practices have resulted in revenue losses amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees.
The federation is calling for regular inspections of properties owned by MLAs, councillors, and other political figures. Additionally, they seek stringent action against both tax evaders and revenue officials who fail to conduct impartial assessments.
“Given the state’s declining financial health and the difficulty in fulfilling various welfare commitments made by the current government, it is imperative to address revenue leakages promptly. Property tax collection has been neglected, with assessments allegedly favoring influential individuals and politically connected property owners for years,” stated D Neelakannan, president of TNARWA.
The association also demanded the establishment of an independent expert committee to evaluate the fairness and implementation of past property tax assessments for residential and commercial buildings statewide. They propose that the inspection process be conducted through a fully digital and transparent system to eliminate interference and corruption.
“The government should appoint honest officials and representatives from social service organizations to oversee the audit instead of relying solely on revenue department staff. Such evaluations would reveal alarming levels of tax manipulation and indicate how the state has lost hundreds of crores in potential revenue,” remarked J M S Nagarjunan, the association’s general secretary. The federation further urged that property owners found guilty of tax evasion be required to pay double the tax for the last decade. It also called for the immediate suspension of revenue officials who failed to conduct fair assessments.
