AP govt to raise taxes on transport vehicles to collect Rs 200 crore additional revenue

The Andhra Pradesh government is all set to enhance the quarterly tax on transport vehicles to raise an additional revenue of Rs 200 crore.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, at a recent meeting on resource mobilisation, gave the clearance to the quarterly tax hike proposal, official sources said in Amaravati.

Accordingly, the Transport Department prepared the plan to enhance the quarterly tax by 20-25% on transport vehicles like taxis, trucks and buses, the sources said.

In December last year, the state government increased the life tax on two- and four-wheelers and also the green tax to generate an extra revenue of Rs 400 crore per year.

The life tax hike resulted in a 38.88% jump in revenue to Rs 1,215.51 crore in the first six months of the 2022-23 financial year, as against Rs 875.20 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Even before the proposed enhancement, quarterly tax on transport vehicles also saw a jump of 31.57 per cent to Rs 529.86 crore in the first half, from Rs 402.72 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Overall, the Transport Department’s revenue has shot up by 39.15% during April-September in the current financial year to Rs 2,130.92 crore, compared to Rs 1,531.29 crore the corresponding period the previous year, the sources said.

"Neighbouring Telangana also increased the quarterly tax on goods and passenger vehicles, along with life tax, resulting in a spike in income. So, we are now ready to raise our tax structure too on similar lines to generate an additional Rs 200 crore in revenue," the sources added. 

Image: PTI