Salem Corporation collects ₹28 crore in taxes in the first month of this fiscal 

Mayor A. Ramachandran honoured bill collectors who collected more taxes in four zones, at Salem Corporation office.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Salem Corporation collected ₹28 crore in taxes in the first month of the 2025-26 fiscal, which is ₹17 crore higher compared with the same period last year.

The Corporation collects property tax, vacant land tax, profession tax, water charges, and underground drainage charges from residents, commercial establishments, educational institutions, industries, and government buildings in the 60 wards. Every year, the Corporation officials take steps to ensure 100% tax collection, but they could not achieve that due to various reasons.

Meanwhile, the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department announced that residents paying property tax for the first half of 2025-26 would get a 5% incentive. The officials created awareness on this and due to their efforts, in the first month of the 2025-26 fiscal, the Corporation collected ₹28 crore in taxes. Mayor A. Ramachandran felicitated the bill collectors from the four zones who collected more taxes.

Corporation Commissioner M. Elangovan termed this collection a tremendous achievement and said the government announcement on incentives had a big impact on tax collection. In Salem Corporation, there were 210,000 tax assessments. This year, the Corporation made an initiative through post offices. Letters were sent to all tax payers. Similarly, bulk SMSs were sent to the taxpayer concerned about the incentive.

Earlier, officials directly sent notices to the houses, which faced many hindrances to cover every household. Last year, with the same staff team, the Corporation collected ₹11 crore in April. But this year, ₹28 crore was collected in April.

Earlier, meetings were conducted for bill collectors every day regarding the tax collection at the Corporation office. Now, they were asked to appear via video conferencing, thus saving two or three hours for them and actively engaging in tax-collecting work, Mr. Elangovan added.

Bulk SMSs and postcards would be sent every month for tax reminders, Mr. Elangovan said. Likewise, a help desk was provided at the entrance of the Salem Corporation office and people who wanted to clarify their doubts on tax could get required details. In the collected ₹28 crore taxes, ₹8 crore was arrear taxes and for this year, ₹20 crore was collected, which was around 15% of the total tax estimation for the year 2025-26, Mr. Elangovan added.