WB to collect one-time tax on vehicles

The Christmas season brought bad news for owners of vehicles in the state as the Calcutta High Court yesterday refused to pass any ad-interim order staying or setting aside the WB Additional & One Time Tax on Motor Vehicles 2nd Amendment Act, 2003.

The Act was introduced by the state government for collecting additional one-time road tax on four wheelers. The Act proposed for imposing penalty in case vehicle owners failed to pay tax in advance.

Several writ petitions were filed in the court challenging the Act.

One petitioner, the Automobile Association of Eastern India (AAEI), moved the petition on Monday last in the court of Justice K J Sengupta. Other petitions were filed before the court of Justice B Bhattacharyya.

Justice Bhattacharyya, while refusing to pass any order, extended the period fixed for payment for life time tax on 2-wheelers till January 7, 2004. The state government had fixed December 31, 2003, as the date.