PANAJI
A decision taken by the Pramod Sawant cabinet on Wednesday will make buying plush cars in the State a lot cheaper, ostensibly to tackle the trend of people buying and registering such vehicles outside, particularly in Puducherry.
Sawant who briefed the media after the meeting said the cabinet approved reduction of taxes on high-end vehicles to discourage people from registering them outside the State.
Sawant said, now for vehicles costing up to Rs 6-lakh the tax will be 9 per cent while it would be 11 per cent for vehicles costing between Rs 6-lakh and Rs 15 lakh.
The Rs 15-35 lakh segment vehicles will entail a 13 per cent tax and those above Rs 35-lakh are slated to be charged a tax of 14 per cent as per Wednesday’s cabinet decision. Previously these tax rates were much higher.
This tax in the Union Territory of Puducherry is as low as just one per cent of the ex-showroom price of the vehicle, which is why many opt to buy and register their cars in the former French colony and many vehicles plying on Goa’s roads have the PY-XXXX registration plates.
Back in 2019, the State Transport Department had cracked down on vehicles with out-station registration which had revealed that they were mostly registered, in the two neighbouring States of Maharashtra and Karnataka besides in Puducherry.
Vehicles owned by permanent residents in Goa were also found to be registered in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
