Excessive taxation on cars

Those who oppose this taxation should write to FM/PM and suggest alternative ways to fill Govt. Coffers. One obvous way is to tax all parks of elected representatives. This may even lead to surplus funds and the taxes like excise and others caould be reduced. more  

Yes, the Peoples who want to enjoy FREEBIES should leave the Country & migrate to another country where they will get all free . Educated Peoples are more Selfish than others. more  

Same is the case with petrol n diesel and alcohol. States are charging VAT upto 40%. Every govt needs huge funds for freebies, spent on salaries, perks, multiple pensions of elected members and wasteful expenditure. more  

I am afraid I totally disagree with this post for one main reason. Individual, personal modes of transport using fossil fuel or even electricity are environmentally disastrous. This is a typical western, especially American style of life which promotes unbridled personal freedom over societal responsibility. Instead of asking for reduction of taxes, we as LC members should demand for mass transport systems which are easily available, cost effective and environmentally less damaging. If I remember right, one lady also raised the same issue a few weeks ago. Then came another post which was lamenting that the AC should not be considered a luxury item. How many people migrate out of the country? Lakhs, crores? What difference will it make if these people migrate? How can the nation progress when we who can afford refuse to pay our taxes - both direct and indirect. Only when we start putting our nation before ourselves, will the major problems facing this country can be solved. Sorry fellow LC members - if I have hurt your sensibilities, but truly both air conditioners and cars are a big luxury; in a country where hardly 5% of the people pay direct taxes, indirect taxes on at least luxury items need to be high. more  

Frankly, any means of transport is not a luxury except those high-power two-seater cars with 6 cylinders and more than 3000cc that cost a fortune and are bought as status symbols. Most cars in India are underpowered, with 1000-1200 CC engines being most common. Even the 1500 cc models are fewer in number and not even offered in the popular SUVs (Most SUVs in India are technically not even SUVs) that are sold by many manufacturers. In the 1970s, there was no concept of vehicle loans, and people could buy a new car for around 18-20k. (Ambassador/Fiat/Premier/Standard). The tax rates were modest in those times, with an annual road tax. Today, the cars sold in India are feature-rich compared to the 70s. However, they are several generations behind the ones in developed countries. Today, a car has to be good enough on power, build quality, reliability and safety. Considering the traffic and driving conditions prevailing where cars get banged somewhere or the other due to bad driving and two-wheeler menace, a car is by no stretch of imagination a luxury. If at all, it’s a wasting asset that gets depreciated by the day. One can understand that cars are a good source of revenue for the government. The average person buys at best two or three cars in their lifetime in India, and on average, most people own cars for seven to ten years or more. Most vehicle purchases in India are financed by loans. Vehicles over Rs 10 lakhs are even charged TCS (Tax collection at source). So when a government taxes vehicles with high taxes, it poses a major deterrent to the average buyer in many ways. Car prices have gone up manifold in the meantime, while incomes have not. Despite this, most manufacturers are struggling, and many have closed shop or reduced models. With new rules that deter use beyond 10/15 years, the government has become very unrealistic in its taxation policy on four-wheelers. Expensive electric vehicles are taxed less when infrastructure is absent to support them, Hybrids and ICE vehicles are taxed at rates of 40% plus. This is when most vehicles are still financed on expensive debt with no tax benefits on loans taken. Either the politicians are blind, or they live on slush money, so they don’t feel anything about the absurd tax rates. more