Chandigarh, December 2: The Punjab cabinet on Wednesday approved 100 percent exemption from the Motor Vehicle tax for state stage carriage buses and buses of educational institutions/school/college buses till December 31, 2020, effective from March 23, to support private transport operators amid the Covid pandemic. The cabinet gave post-facto approval to the notification issued in June to exempt these vehicles from MV tax till May 19, 2020, and also okayed notification for further extension from May 20 to December 31, 2020.
The cabinet has also approved extension of the Amnesty scheme, deferring payment of arrears of taxes, without interest and penalty, to March 31, 2021.
Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the Cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval to the notification dated June 1, 2020, reducing Motor Vehicle Tax of Stage Carriage Buses (Ordinary Buses) from Rs. 2.80 to Rs. 2.69 (Per Kilometre, Per Vehicle, Per Day). It further gave ex-post facto approval to another notification dated June 2, 2020, by which Motor Vehicle Tax exemption was given to Educational Institutions, Schools, College buses, Mini buses, Maxi Cab and Three Wheelers from March 23, 2020 to May 19, 2020.
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The exemption given to the above Stage Carriage buses and buses of Educational Institutions/ Schools/ College was expected to cost the state exchequer about Rs. 66.05 Crore.
It may be recalled that during a meeting with Chief Minister on October 30, the private bus operators including stage carriage operators, Mini bus and school bus operators had sought extension of Amnesty Scheme issued on June 1, 2020, as they could not avail the benefit due to Covid-19. Under the Amnesty Scheme, the transporters were liable to pay tax on their vehicles from June 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 without any interest and penalty.
The transporters had also apprised the Chief Minister that fewer people are travelling nowadays due to the pandemic which led to huge financial losses as their buses were not plying on the roads to full capacity. Hence, it was decided in the meeting to grant 100 percent tax exemption to all types of stage carriage buses and educational institutions (Schools and Colleges) buses from May 20, 2020 to December 31, 2020.