The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation had a total tax revenue of ₹154.36 crore in 2023-24, as per the annual administration report for the financial year tabled in the council on Saturday. Out of this, building taxes comprised ₹83.77 crore, while professional tax contributed ₹65.45 crore. The share of entertainment tax comprised ₹5.13 crore.
It was in the 2017-18 financial year that the civic body for the first time touched ₹100 crore in taxes collected in a year. Since then, the figure has gone up by a few crores every year to touch the current level. The non-tax revenue for 2023-24 stands at ₹109.38 crore, with the ₹37.36 crore collected in building construction licensing fees and fine amounts being the biggest contributor.
Rents from land and buildings owned by the Corporation contributed ₹5.2 crore, while an amount of ₹8.44 crore was collected in road cutting charges and ₹5.16 crore as Dangerous and Offensive (D&O) trade license fee from commercial establishments. Property tax collections at the city Corporation witnessed a major jump in 2021, with the civic body starting the process of cleaning up its online tax collection data and publishing the list of defaulters. The possibility of publication of names in the defaulters list drove many to clear all pending tax dues.
Intense debates
The council meeting witnessed intense debates on the annual administration report with the councillors of the Opposition Bharartiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that the report is filled with discrepancies and erroneous figures. When the councillors alleged that the errors which were cited during discussions within the finance standing committee were not corrected, Deputy Mayor P.K. Raju, who heads the committee, said that the report was discussed four times in the committee and passed after taking all suggestions into consideration.
Mayor Arya Rajendran said that in case there are discrepancies in the figures, the heads of the various departments have to scrutinise these and correct them. The report was later passed in the council.
