Tamil Nadu

Lifetime tax rates to go up

CHENNAI: The lifetime tax on private vehicles will be increased from the present 6 per cent to 8 per cent from June 1.

Hence, the cheapest car in the country, the Maruti 800 non air-conditioned car (800 MPI standard with immobiliser that costs Rs.1,89,261.49 ex-showroom – indicative price from the Maruti website) will be costlier by about Rs.3,700.

Transport Minister K.N. Nehru informed the Assembly on Wednesday that lifetime tax was introduced for four-wheelers in the State in 1999. It was then decided that 6 per cent of the cost of the vehicle would be the tax. In neighbouring States such as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the tax was much higher, the maximum being 14 per cent. In order to control the rapid growth of private vehicle population and to generate resources for the various traffic improvement schemes, it was imperative the government levied a higher rate of tax, he said, replying to the debate on the demands for grants for his department.

Mr. Nehru said that for old vehicles that were re-registered in Tamil Nadu too, the tax would be a little higher and would be decided based on the age of the vehicle. A Bill seeking to the amend the existing rates of lifetime tax would be introduced in the current session of the Assembly, he said.

The total number of registered vehicles in the State (till February-end 2008) was 99,88,868, 10.73 per cent higher than the number last year. Non-transport vehicles – two-wheelers, cars etc. – accounted for a major chunk of the growth. There were 82.04 lakh two-wheelers on road and 10.93 lakh vehicles in the ‘other’ category that included cars and other vehicles of personal use. The total number of vehicles on road crossed a crore in the State. The growth of revenue for the department, from motor vehicle tax and fees recorded an impressive growth – from Rs.1272.69 crore in 2006-07 to Rs.1391.76 crore (till February-end 2008).

The modernisation of Chennai airport would be completed by 2010, he said. The Airports Authority of India proposed to spend about Rs.1,800 crore on the project. “The State government is also examining the option of establishing a greenfield airport at Sriperumbudur. As regards the non-metro airports such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi and Tuticorin, the State government is taking action to acquire lands for their expansion and modernisation as per the Master Plan submitted by the Airports Authority of India,” he said.

Hereafter, fare structure in mofussil bus services will be classified as ordinary, express and AC. There will be no deluxe and super deluxe fare services, according to an official press release.

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