A plea to reduce tax collected on commercial vehicles source
The cars are likely to go cheaper in the coming times as SIAM ( The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers ) has demanded the government to relax the tax collected at source levied on automobiles exceeding the price of Rs. 10 lakhs. As the Union Budget is about to be revised for 2017-18 tenure, the group has also asked to see for an increment in the incentives given to Research and Development team working hard for technologically uplifting the auto industry. For this, SIAM has planned a 'Fleet Modernisation
Scheme' that will enhance the technology and make people easily switch
from their older cars to the newer and better ones. It shall be
introduced as an
incentive-based programme to modernise the older vehicles.
The tax is charged only on commercially selling cars and not on other motors like buses or trucks, which has burdened the industry in the long run. To curb the situation, SIAM has demanded to lower the weight from 200% to 150% to be in action from April 2017 till March 2020. The group proposes an increase in the depreciation rate for motor cars, MUVs and
two-wheelers from 15% to 25% under the IT
Act. On the customs duty front, it has asked that the concessions on
identified parts of hybrid/ EV parts to be extended to certain other
parts as well so as to allow competitive pricing for vehicles.
SIAM has suggested that the list of acts to be
repealed in the sections of NCCD, R&D tax on import of technology and
infrastructure build up tax. This will help bring technological advancements to the country easily and beneficially. It has also demanded that the excise duty benefits currently
available to units in hilly states and North-eastern states should be
safeguarded.
Speaking
about General Service Tax (GST), SIAM has accepted the rate of 28% for
two-wheelers, three-wheelers, commercial
vehicles (buses and trucks), small cars and utility vehicles but has
demanded a uniform cess of 8% for all the other cars. Also, it has asked
for the
electric vehicles to levy 12% of tax or less and
hybrid vehicles a 10% rebate from applicable GST
rate plus cess.
