Excise benefits extended till March 2015

Government has announced that the auto industry will continue to enjoy excise duty benefits till March 2015. This might come as a relief to car manufacturers as they can continue to sell cars at a realatively cheaper rate.

In June this year, the government had decided to extend the excise duty incentive by six months to December 31st. These incentives were first announced in the interim budget in February 2012 which allowed car manufacturers to avail this excise duty incentive till June 30th, 2014.

With this, excise duty on small cars, scooters, motorcycles and comercial vehicles continues to be at 8% as opposed to previous 12%. Duty on SUVs remains at 24% as opposed to 30% previously. Duty on larger / luxury cars has come down to 24% from 27% and on mid-size cars, it has come down to 20% from 24%.

In the past couple of months, the automotive industry is starting to show a positive growth and lower excise duty till the end of this fiscal year will ensure that the momentum continues.

Source – ET Auto