No clarity on issue of annual tax payment for non-Karnataka vehicles

Confusion prevails with regard to collection of lifetime tax by the government from private vehicles, especially cars, registered outside Karnataka.

Kerala Transport Commissioner R. Sreelekha, who had a meeting with Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy in Bangalore on Monday, claimed that the Minister has agreed not to insist payment of LTT by non-Karnataka vehicles. She told The Hindu that LTT cannot be demanded for vehicles from other states up to a period of three months.

However, Karnataka Transport Commissioner Rame Gowda said that his Kerala counterpart was informed about the amendments brought to Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation Rules recently, wherein vehicles staying beyond 30 days need to pay LTT in Karnataka. She was also informed about the provision for pro-rata refund of the tax if the vehicle owner intends to take the vehicle back to the home-state at a subsequent stage.

The meeting is a fallout of Kerala Transport Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan writing to his Karnataka counterpart Ramalinga Reddy on September 16 seeking a meeting to discuss the issue after several motorists owning non-Karnataka registered vehicles, especially those from Kerala, complained.

Sources said that, motorists complained that since many Keralites reside and work in Bangalore and other parts of the State and travel between Karnataka and Kerala, introduction of annual tax for non-Karnataka registered vehicles is unfair as life-time tax is being paid in Kerala during vehicle registration.