Taxes, like the price of fuel or your girlfriend’s mood, are unpredictable. When the whole country has been debating about GST, that wasn’t introduced during this Union budget, and the taxes on cars going up nationally, the Maharashtra government has taken a whole different route. In January, the government exempted EV vehicles from VAT, registration and road tax, which was seen as a welcome move. But in the recent Maharashtra budget, the government announced an increase in road tax on two-wheelers based on their engines capacity.
Two wheelers with engine capacity of 99cc and below will attract a road tax of 8 per cent, that is 1 per cent more than before. On a motorcycle that costs Rs 45,000, you will end up paying Rs 450 more now. For engine capacities between 100-299cc, the tax rate will be 9 per cent and for motorcycles with 300cc and above capacities, the tax rate goes up to 10 per cent, so road tax on a Duke 200 in Maharashtra will cost you Rs 14,000 approximately (up by Rs 4,500). On bigger bikes like the Triumph Street Twin, road tax goes up by about Rs 20,000.
The biggest impact will be on full imports, where the road tax is set to double. While numbers aren’t clear yet, since all are large capacity motorcycles (above 300cc), road tax goes up in two steps, first from 7 to 10 per cent due to the 300cc rule, and then double to 20 per cent. A Ducati Diavel Carbon for example priced at Rs 16.89 lakh ex-showroom Delhi that attracts a road tax of approximately Rs 1.2 lakh till the end of this month will be taxed around Rs 3.4 lakh. So if you have just walked into the newly opened Ducati dealership in Pune, ensure that you get delivery before 31 March because that’s when the new tax regime kicks in.