Court succour to Life Tax row in Telangana

At last, the judiciary has come to succour of victims of life tax payment and the concept of one country and one tax is gaining ground. A “one country, one tax” movement has been gathering steam after the Telangana State RTA mandated outstation vehicles to pay new life taxes within a month of entering the state.

On a writ petition filed by petitioner R. Armugam who had temporarily visited Hyderabad and already paid life tax on his vehicle at both Gurgoan and Karnataka, the High Court has ruled that AP and Telangana governments need not charge Life Taxes on outstation vehicles after it has been paid at the place of purchase.

The court stated that Life tax, as the name suggests, is meant to be a tax to be paid on purchase of a vehicle for its entire lifetime. However, due to no coordination between transport departments of different states, vehicle owners are required to pay life taxes in every state they shift to.

RTA officials claimed that there is a refund process in place although there is no co-ordination between the RTA of different states. For vehicle owners who have lived in more than two states, the process is cumbersome and difficult, admitted authorities.