Goods vehicles, auto rickshaws can now pay tax annually in Punjab: Cabinet

In a relief to the owners of goods vehicles and auto-rickshaws in the state, the cabinet gave the nod to do away with the process of paying tax after every quarter that caused harassment to them.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the council of ministers held under the chairmanship of chief minister Bhagwant Mann at his official residence here.

The owners of these old commercial vehicles can now deposit the lump sum tax of their vehicles annually, the government spokesperson said.

The buyers of new such vehicles have been given the option of paying this tax for four years or eight years, thereby availing a rebate of 10% or 20% respectively, the spokesperson added.

The cabinet also discussed the formation of a new agriculture policy in the state.

In another decision, the cabinet gave its concurrence for introducing education policy in the state for giving a major thrust to skill and technical based education.

The policy will focus on effectively transforming education in the state so that youth can immensely benefit from it.

The cabinet also gave its consent to expand the ambit of the one-time settlement scheme for pending value-added tax cases for the benefit traders.

It was observed that the ongoing scheme has immensely benefited the traders, and the state government recovered 164 crores. The formal orders for the expansion of this scheme will be issued shortly, the spokesperson said.