HYDERABAD: For a person with disability, buying a new car under the GST regime can be confusing. Small cars under GST have been taxed at 28 per cent, however vehicles for those with disability has been rated to be 18 per cent under GST.
The rates released by the GST council in June taxed vehicles bought by PWDs at 18 per cent. To avail this 10 per cent tax deduction, those with physical disability will ideally have to submit a disability certificate along with other documentation at the time of buying the vehicle so that manufacturer modifies the vehicle.
However, no car manufacturers in India, at present, modify vehicles for PWDs. This leaves them with no other option but to rely on car mechanics who often do not have a Regional Transport Authority (RTA) licence. “Under such circumstances, those with a disability will have to buy their vehicle at 28 per cent tax and will be unable to avail the 10 per cent exemption,” said M Pavan Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Swadhikaar Centre for Disabilities Information. “We will issue a clarification from time to time on matters related to tax classification,” said V Anil Kumar, commercial tax commissioner.
For PWDs, assistive devices under GST will be taxed at 5 to 18 per cent. “This will make these items expensive for the disabled. A vast majority of those disabled in Telangana are from the low income groups and usually need financial assistance to access such devices,” said Pavan.