Revocation of taxes on Electric vehicles and the inclusion of taxes on tractors

On Monday, Punjab moved to check vehicular pollution, withdrawing proposed tax relief on old vehicles (major polluters) and slashing 75pc tax on electric vehicles to promote cleaner environment.

However, it brought tractors’ trade under the tax net by replacing the word ‘motor car’ with ‘motor vehicle’ in its finance bill and triggered fears that this essential machine for agriculture will become more expensive and hurt farmers and farming. The decision brings other vehicular dealers in tax net as well.