[arjab]

Originally Posted by subratasenn

Very strange. I got delivery of my car on 28th August, that is three days before the new RT regime came into place and paid 5-year RT as per the old calculations. Means I'll be losing out when I'll be going for renewal of RT after the 5-year period is over.

Yes, you are absolutely correct. It's lifetime or the new 5-year slab now. Worst is they'll calculate the tax based on current prices! So in 2017 whatever is the price of your Liva you'll have to cough up that amount.

I wonder what they'll do to out of production cars - like the PALIO, Hyundai Getz, even M-800 for that matter which is no longer sold in BS-IV cities

[Vid6639]

I love the 5 year road tax slab concept. It gives the perfect excuse to sell your car and get a new one just before 5 years.

My uncle has been doing this everytime. He gets a car which he knows will atleast last him 4 years and then after completing 4 years sell it off and get a new one.

Ofcourse works only for those who can afford it. In Karnataka you pay the highest road tax for life and enjoy the worst road and traffic conditions and even after 5 years you cant think of changing your car since the new car road tax is so exorbitant.

A Skoda Superb with only 40K road tax for 5 years just looks so tempting at 25L compared to one in Bangalore for 31L with close to 4L as road tax.

[adc]

Thanks much to Samarjit for clarifying all the points.

Some important points to be clarified, as I got to know.


1. Yes, it is now in 5 year block and it does not matter whether the vehicle is old or new.

Lifetime tax though kept as an option, the rates are such so that one goes for it rather than the onetime tax as the onetime tax will be a lot, lot more than lifetime tax.


2. The tax is valid as long as the car lasts. i.e., no more tax ever again if you pay for lifetime tax.


I paid some 40k for 5 year safari 2.2 LX road tax from 2007 to 2012 and now that I paid that 92k around, it is for the whole life of the car that I can take out of it.


3. The only criteria taken for calculating is the cc or engine capacity of the vehicle.


4. The tax is calculated on the purchase invoice of vehicle - as such it is required to be submitted for tax calculation.

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Can't wait to hear about your biking experience. Hope that travelogue will be up soon.

Oh yes, it is good to be back. And then it had been one huge of a solo trip with trekking to Stok Kangri put in between cycling days. Should be starting on the travelogue after the holidays.

The only reason I paid that amount of lifetime tax for the Safari VTT, is that it had been through so many experiences and has brought us back to the home safe and sound each and every time from many a remote land. I dont get sentimental with machines and rides, but then this vehicle had been somewhat special!




Anyway, as said, people of this state are going to have a hard time to decide on what to do and as said, nasty figures can pop up on the RTO quote on road tax renewal.

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by arjab

I wonder what they'll do to out of production cars - like the PALIO, Hyundai Getz, even M-800 for that matter which is no longer sold in BS-IV cities

A new avenue of RTO corruption. They can now quote any arbitrary amount for these cars out of production and make a fast buck .

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I love the 5 year road tax slab concept. It gives the perfect excuse to sell your car and get a new one just before 5 years.

We actually used to have the 5 year slab for the first 10 years of the vehicle and then pay road tax every year after 10 years. This was the best and most logical option. Getting rid of this option and then charging a 10+ year old vehicle at the current showroom price is daylight robbery. It doesn't even make logical sense. Hope it gets challenged in court soon. Starting the scheme for new vehicles still makes sense but not for vehicles already aged and plying on roads.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Ofcourse works only for those who can afford it. In Karnataka you pay the highest road tax for life and enjoy the worst road and traffic conditions and even after 5 years you cant think of changing your car since the new car road tax is so exorbitant.

But what if you cannot afford to buy a new car every 5 years. Considering folks who are retired or cannot afford to replace their cars every 5 years its so much of a burden. For example my dad uses his M800 sparingly. Why should he be made to pay road tax at the rate of new cars? Nor should he be forced to buy another new car .

Originally Posted by adc

The only reason I paid that amount of lifetime tax for the Safari VTT, is that it had been through so many experiences and has brought us back to the home safe and sound each and every time from many a remote land. I dont get sentimental with machines and rides, but then this vehicle had been somewhat special!

Dada, how can you even think of selling the Safari. Even we cannot think about it. Its good you paid the lifetime tax. As I said in my case, I am now forced to looking at replacing the Zen instead of paying unnecessary road tax for it. I would rather get a new car, pay lifetime tax and forget about it. But who knows, the government can come up with another devious scheme in the future like redefining lifetime as 5 years. I am just saying.

[arjab]

Originally Posted by adc

2.The tax is valid as long as the car lasts. i.e., no more tax ever again if you pay for lifetime tax.

Can you run a check on this please?
An RTO wag (read "dalaal") told me that lifetime tax is valid for a period of 15 years or till the time the Certificate of Registration of your vehicle is valid (which usually is 15years) .
After 15 years and subsequent "CF issuance" (Certificate of Fitness" (for private vehicles) you are supposed to pay road tax again in tranches of 5 years. (as per the new structure).

I have very less faith in the credibility of the person who shared this with me, so got no idea whether this actually is true or not. Maybe worth a check ?

[subratasenn]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

We actually used to have the 5 year slab for the first 10 years of the vehicle and then pay road tax every year after 10 years. This was the best and most logical option. Getting rid of this option and then charging a 10+ year old vehicle at the current showroom price is daylight robbery. It doesn't even make logical sense. Hope it gets challenged in court soon. Starting the scheme for new vehicles still makes sense but not for vehicles already aged and plying on roads.

Yes, this needs to be challenged in court. Because the new RT rule is illogical and defies common sense.

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by arjab

Can you run a check on this please?
An RTO wag (read "dalaal") told me that lifetime tax is valid for a period of 15 years or till the time the Certificate of Registration of your vehicle is valid (which usually is 15years) .
After 15 years and subsequent "CF issuance" (Certificate of Fitness" (for private vehicles) you are supposed to pay road tax again in tranches of 5 years. (as per the new structure).

I have very less faith in the credibility of the person who shared this with me, so got no idea whether this actually is true or not. Maybe worth a check ?

This is correct. As per the new guidelines (only the Almighty knows if these details are actually written down on paper) after 15 years of the vehicle the road tax still needs to be paid in 5 year blocks on the current ex-showroom price. I have gotten this confirmed through multiple sources when a TBHP member based out of NCR was asking about it as he had to get road tax for his old 1997 Zen in Kolkata which has completed 15 years. It is simply mind blowing .

[Ram_NP]

The five year tax calculation method seems to very harsh on owners, whose vehicles are coming up for renewal.

Taxing the vehicle at current ex-showroom price is totally illogical.

As the members have rigthly pointed out, everyone can not change cars before five years.

I will also check out the deatil through my sources after puja holidays.

[cediaowner]

My 5 year old cedia's road tax validity expired around february this year and now when I got the renewal tax rate its a whopping 55,000 (not sure if this is life time or not ) . I don't want to keep the car more than 2 years from now , so can I opt for the annual tax scheme ? Can anyone kindly explain ?

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by cediaowner

My 5 year old cedia's road tax validity expired around february this year and now when I got the renewal tax rate its a whopping 55,000 (not sure if this is life time or not ) . I don't want to keep the car more than 2 years from now , so can I opt for the annual tax scheme ? Can anyone kindly explain ?

These rates are atrocious and believe me its a scam by the RTO and the crooks called agents who should have been poison gassed instead a long time ago. So I am tagging the guy who went to the RTO and dug out this information himself

Originally Posted by dip27in

...

when he had his old car up for tax renewal. He went and spoke to the RTO officer in charge and extracted the actual information on taxes to be paid on old cars. It seems it is only a percentage of what the tax would be for a new car. This percentage is determined based on the age of the old car. Here is the graphic he shared with us on a different forum and really we cannot thank him enough for bringing this information out and sharing with us.

As per the new notification on taxes for all new cars it is as per below (excuse me for posting this newspaper clipping from a Bengali newspaper as this is where he got the information from)


Loose translation of the above
For New Cars - 5 year tax slab
Upto 900 cc - 5.5% of the ex showroom price or Rs 17000 whichever is higher
900 cc to 1490 cc - 5.5% of the ex showroom price or Rs 25000 whichever is higher
1490 cc to 2000 cc - 5.5% of the ex showroom price or Rs 35000 whichever is higher
2000 cc and above - 5.5% of the ex showroom price or Rs 45000 whichever is higher

But you would be more interested in the tax you need to pay and it is as per this which is from the same newspaper article. This is applicable for all old cars up for road tax renewal or out of state cars who have taken up residence in West Bengal covered under the new road tax regime.


Roughly translation of this table above is as given below
For Old Cars - 5 year tax slab

Less than 1 year old - same as a new car
1 - 2 years old - 93% of the road tax for a new car
2 - 3 years old - 87% of the road tax for a new car
3 - 4 years old - 80% of the road tax for a new car
4 - 5 years old - 74% of the road tax for a new car
5 - 6 years old - 67% of the road tax for a new car
6 - 7 years old - 60% of the road tax for a new car
7 - 8 years old - 54% of the road tax for a new car
8 - 9 years old - 48% of the road tax for a new car
9 - 10 years old - 42% of the road tax for a new car
10 years and above - 36% of the road tax for a new car

So in your case given the ex showroom price of a new Cedia is about 8.24 lakhs, the road tax for the new car being close to about Rs 45K for 5 years, you should be paying 74% of Rs 45K which is Rs 33.3K and not Rs 55K. Please show this calculation to your agent. If he doesn't agree, I encourage you to speak directly to the RTO officer.

[dip27in]

Personally I feel, the touts know little and evade by playing safe by paying the maximum tax for any specific case.

Please speak to the RTO directly as suggested by Samarajit Dhar, this will help you to get the true figures. They are human being afterall, just that needs to be firmly treated with little respect.

[samarjitdhar]

ERRATA: On my previous post

But you would be more interested in the tax you need to pay and it is as per this which is from the same newspaper article. This is applicable for all old cars up for road tax renewal or out of state cars who have taken up residence in West Bengal covered under the new road tax regime.


Rough translation of this table above is as given below
For Old Cars - Lifetime tax. It seems like for old cars and out of state cars the only tax payable is lifetime tax as per this article which would be applicable for you. You cannot opt to pay a 5 year tax as it has not been explicitly mentioned in this article (perhaps to help the RTO agents fleece car owners).

Less than 1 year old - same as a new car
1 - 2 years old - 93% of the road tax for a new car
2 - 3 years old - 87% of the road tax for a new car
3 - 4 years old - 80% of the road tax for a new car
4 - 5 years old - 74% of the road tax for a new car
5 - 6 years old - 67% of the road tax for a new car
6 - 7 years old - 60% of the road tax for a new car
7 - 8 years old - 54% of the road tax for a new car
8 - 9 years old - 48% of the road tax for a new car
9 - 10 years old - 42% of the road tax for a new car
10 years and above - 36% of the road tax for a new car

So the road tax would be calculated based on the showroom value you paid for the car when it was new and then the appropriate percentage applied to that value to calculate the lifetime tax of your old car. This is deliberately made complex so that ordinary citizens can be fooled and fleeced left and right by our governments .

So in your case given the ex showroom price of a new Cedia is about 8.24 lakhs, the road tax for the new car being close to about Rs 45K for 5 years, you should be paying 74% of Rs 45K which is Rs 33.3K and not Rs 55K. Given this situation you are better off paying the lifetime tax as it will cost you less anyway.

[archat68]

Originally Posted by cediaowner

My 5 year old cedia's road tax validity expired around february this year and now when I got the renewal tax rate its a whopping 55,000

There is a penalty for late payment of road tax due. That is why you are getting this whopping 55K estimate.

6. What are the rates of penalty?
There is a grace period of 15 days for payment of tax without penalty after expiry. Penalty is charged thereafter @ 25% for delay in payment during the period of 16th day to 45th day after expiry, then @ 50% for delay in payment during the period of 46th day to 75th day after expiry and @ 100% for delay in payment after the 75th day after expiry.

Read here:
https://vahan.wb.nic.in/wb/vahan/gui...oadTaxFAQs.jsp

[cediaowner]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

These rates are atrocious and believe me its a scam by the RTO and the crooks called agents who should have been poison gassed instead a long time ago. So I am tagging the guy who went to the RTO and dug out this information himself

Even I was wondering this until a guy on kolkatacarfanatics page on Facebook told me that he recently paid 50,000 for his tax renewal . So I guess my late payment penalty is around 5,000. I'm sending someone to the rto for clarification anyways .

Originally Posted by dip27in

Personally I feel, the touts know little and evade by playing safe by paying the maximum tax for any specific case.

Please speak to the RTO directly as suggested by Samarajit Dhar, this will help you to get the true figures. They are human being afterall, just that needs to be firmly treated with little respect.

Will do the same , but I have a feeling it will be a big hole in my pocket.

[black_panther]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

So in your case given the ex showroom price of a new Cedia is about 8.24 lakhs, the road tax for the new car being close to about Rs 45K for 5 years, you should be paying 74% of Rs 45K which is Rs 33.3K and not Rs 55K. Given this situation you are better off paying the lifetime tax as it will cost you less anyway.

I understand that the lifetime tax after 5 years (valid for the next 10 years) would be 67% of that of a new vehicle as the vehicle is now more than 5 years old.

5 year tax for a 5 year old vehicle would be same as that of new vehicle.