PANAJI
The Goa Cabinet has approved amendments to the Goa Motor Vehicles Tax Amendment Bill, which will be tabled in the Goa Legislative Assembly in the ongoing session. This will hike the Motor Vehicle Tax collected at the time of registration, the infrastructure development cess on purchase of vehicles, green tax on vehicles completing 15 years, passenger tax on stage carriages and annual Motor Vehicle Tax. The bill is a fulfillment of a budget speech announcement where Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said he would enhance various vehicular taxes in a bid to mop up additional revenue to the tune of `152 crore. Infrastructure Development Cess will, after the passing of the amendment, stand at `15,000 (earlier `12,000) for a vehicle costing between, `10-lakh to `20 lakh, `50,000 (earlier `40,000) for a vehicle costing between `20 lakh to `40-lakh, `1-lakh (earlier `75,000) for vehicles costing between `40-lakh and `60-lakh and `1.25 lakh (earlier `1-lakh) for vehicles costing above `60-lakh. Green tax -- a fee collected at the time of renewing the registration of a vehicle after the completion of 15-years will also be enhanced with increases ranging from `100 to `400 across the range of vehicles -- motorcycles to heavy commercial vehicles. The amendments will also mean higher annual tax and facilitation-cum-inspection fees for commercial vehicles. The motor vehicle tax collected at the time of registering all vehicles has also been increased. There are more than 11.58 lakh vehicles registered in the State for a population of around 15-lakh or around two vehicles for every three persons and more than two vehicles per family. Total number of driving licence holders is 6.41 lakh. During the year 2015-16 the Transport Department collected revenue worth `223.27 crore. The previous year (2014-15) the transport department s revenue was even higher standing at `414.20 crore. Prior to that the Transport Department used to rake in revenue to the tune of `160-170 crore per year.
