Tax rate for electric vehicles slashed to 5%

Major initiative to reduce amount of carbon in atmosphere

LAHORE:

The Punjab cabinet has taken some major initiatives to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and increase the tax net.

In order to eliminate smog and reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, the Punjab cabinet in its meeting on Tuesday approved about 95 percent exemption on registration of electric cars.

This measure will save the owner millions of rupees on registration of electric cars.

The registration fee for electric cars for all manufacturers and all types ranging from 600cc to 5000cc or even more will now be 95 percent less as compared to the registration fee for non-electric vehicles.

For example, if a car that runs on petrol involves a registration fee of Rs20,000, an electric car of the same type will be registered for a modest fee of Rs1000.

Provincial Energy Minister Dr Akhtar Malik said that encouraging electric cars would yield far-reaching results.

He said that Punjab was going to be the first solar province of Pakistan.

The provincial government was swiftly installing solar technology in all public institutions, government universities, hospitals, jails and other departments, he said, adding that with the encouragement of electric cars, they would be able to provide a good environment to the coming generations.

Meanwhile, the minister for excise Hafiz Mumtaz said that reduction in the fee for registration of electric cars would not result in any decline in the revenue because the excise department had been securing record revenue under the heads of property tax and excise duty.

He said that the government would not be bothered if it had to sacrifice some revenue in order to bring about an improvement in the atmosphere.

The Director-General of Punjab’s Excise and Taxation Department, Rizwan Akram Sherwani, told this correspondent that the Punjab cabinet has laid the foundation for an eco-friendly revolution in the automotive industry.

“We want the people to give preference to electric cars so that we have a clean environment and that the amount of carbon in the atmosphere is reduced,” he said.

On the other hand, the Punjab cabinet has made it mandatory for all vehicles registered in the province to pay their token taxes annually only to Punjab’s excise and taxation department.

Token taxes for vehicles registered in Punjab but paid in any other province will not be acceptable.

Millions of vehicles are currently registered in Punjab. Every year thousands of vehicles submit token taxes in other provinces due to which Punjab faces huge deficit in revenue and fails to meet its tax targets.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2021.