Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Short title. e:\.tcnt and commencement.-( I) Th1s Act may be called the Kerala l\Iotor Vehicles TaxatiOn Act. 1976 (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala .,.. (3) It <>hall be deemed to have come mto force on the . ....__ l-;t day ot Ortober, 1975 • Rece1ved the dssent of the President on the 25th ddy of March 1'176 and publt;,hed 1n the Ker,tl<i G<.~7ctt.e ExtrdordJndry No. Hln, d<lted 25tn Mdrch 197b 97 2 Dctimtions.-ln th1s Act. unles<s the context otherw1se reqwres,- (a) "fleet owner means a person. an ll1stltut10n or th·· Government. who or wh1ch 1s the registered owner of mor~ ~ than one hund1 ed and fifty tranc;;port vehicles med or kept for use m,. the State . (b) ''laden v..e1ght'', tn 1espect of any moto1 vehicle, means the registered laden weight recorded ll1 the C'ertlficatl' of registratiOn and. m ca<se'S where the vehicle IS not reg1stered or tlw laden weight 1s not 1 ecorcled m the certificate of regis- tJ·atlon, the lad<'n we1ght determ1ned hy the regtstering authonty m such manner a<> 1t :nay de<:>m fit. (c) "local authonty' \Vlthm the meanmg of the Act 2 of 192'f) , 1ncludes a cantonment authonty Cantonments Act 192-l (Central (d) "prescnbed meam prc-;cnbed by rules made under this Act. . (c) "registered owner' means the person in who...,e nam~ a mo:or veh1cle 1s registered or deemed to be registered under the Motor Vehicles Act. 1939 (Central Act 4 of 1939) (f) 'R0g10nal Tran~port Officer' means any officer appomtcd by the Government to perform the functwnc;; of d Reg10nal Transport Officer under thi'S Act (g) "State ' mean" the Sta'Le o1 Ke1 ala , (h) ' tax' means the tax leviable under this Act; (i) 'Taxation Officer' means the Regwnal Transport Officer 01 such other officer a" may be appomted by the Govern- ment to exerc1se the powers and perform the functiOns oi a Taxation Officer under this Act (.J) ''Tax hcence' means a l!cence issued under sub- section ::> of <;pcti•m 4 and mclude<; a duphcate tax licence iSStH..:u in place of the ongmal licence . (k) "Transport Commisswner'' means the officer appointed by the Government to perform the functions of the Transport Comrmssioner under this Act , (1) "year" means the financial year ; and "quarter ' means the first, second, th1rd or fourth three months of an year, (m) words and expressions used but not defined in th1s Act shall have the meanmgs respecbvely assigned to them m the Motor Veh1cles Act, 1939 (Central Act 4 of 1939} or the rules made thereunder. 3 Levy of tax -(1} Subject to the other prov1s1ons of th1s Act, on and from the date of conunencement of this Act, a tax shall be levied on every motor vehicle used or kept for use m the State, at the rate specJ.fied for such veh1cle m the Schedule Prov1ded that no such tax shall be levied on a motor vehicle kept by a dealer m, or a manufacturer of, such veh1cle, for the purpose of trade and used under the authonsatJon of a trade certificate granted by the registering authonty. (2} The Government may, from t1me to time, by noti- ficatiOn m the Gazette, increase the rate of tax specified 111 the Schedule: Provided that such wcrease shall not in the aggregate exceed fifty per cent of such rate. (3} The registered owner of, or any person having possessiOn or control of, a motor veh1cle shall, for the purposes of th1s Act, be deemed to use or keep such vehicle for use in the State, except durmg any period for wluch no tax is pay- able on such motor vehicle w1der sub-section (1) of section 5 ~~ r ' (4} Notwithstanding anything contained in sub- section (1}, the Government may, from time to t1me, by noti- ficatiOn m the Gazette, d1rect that a temporary licence for a penod not exceedmg seven days or thirty days at a t1me may ~ be 1ssued in respect of any class of motor veh1cles specified in the Schedule on payment of the tax specified in sub-sectiOn (5) and subJect to such conditions as may be specified in such notification. 99 (5) The tax payable for a temporary licence in respect of a motor vehicle shall be,- (a) where the temporary licence is for a penod not exceedmg seven days, at the rate of one-tenth of the quarterly ~ tax on that motor vehicle ; and (b) where the temporary licence is for a period exceed- ing seven days but not exceeding thirty days, at the rate of ' one-third of the quarterly tax on that motor vehicle (6) In the case of motor vehicles in respect of which any reciprocal arrangement relatmg to taxat10n has been entered into between the Government of Kerala and any other State Government, the levy of tax shall, notwtthstandmg any- thing contained m this Act, be m accordance wtth the terms and conditions of such reciprocal arrangement . Provided that the terms and conditiOns of every such reciprocal arrangement shall be pubhshed in the Gazette and a copy thereof shall be placed before the Legtslatlve Assembly .i). of the State. 4 Paymmt of tax and issue of licence.-(1) The tax levied under sub-section (1) of section 3 shall be paid m advance within such period and m such manner as may be prescribed, by the registered owner or person having possession or control of the motor vehicle, for a: quarter or year, at hJs choice, upon a quarterly or annual hcence to be taken out by him Provided that, m the case of a fleet owner, the Govern- ment may du·ect that the tax shall be paid 1n monthly instaL ments before such date, in such manner and subject to such conditions, as may be specified m the direction Explanation.-The tax for an annual hcence shall not exceed four times the tax for a quarterly hcence. (2) In the case of an annual licence, such rebate in respect of the tax, as may be prescribed, shall be granted (3) When any person pays the amount of tax in respec.~ of a motor vehicle used or kept for use in the State or obtains an endorsement in the certificate of registration of the vehicle 100 by the Regional Transport Officer concerned that no tax is payable m respect of such veh1cle, the Taxatwn Officer shall- (a) grant to such person a hcence m the prescnbed form; and (b) record that the tax has been paid fm the specified period, or that no tax 1s payable Hl respect of that vehicle, as the case may be, 111 the certificate of registratiOn or, 111 the: case of a vehicle not registered un-der the Motor Veh1cle.:> Act, 1939 (Central Act 4 of Hl39), in a certlficatc m such form a1' may be prescnbed Prov1ded that no hcence shall be granted In respect of a motor vehicle wh1ch 1s exempt from payment of tax under sub-section ( 1) of sectwn 5 (4) No motor vehicle liable to tax under c;ectwn 3 shall be kept for u~e m the State, unless the registered owner or the perc;on havmg possesc;wn or control of such vehicle he~-, obtamed a tax licence under sub-sectiOn (3) m respect of that vehicle (5) No motor vehicle hable to tax under section .i shall be used m the State unless a vahd tax hcence obtained undu sub-section (3) IS displayed on the vehicle m the pre~cribed manner (6) Notw1thstandmg anythmg contamed m sub-sectJOn (1). no person shall be hable to tax durmg any penod on account of any taxable motor vehicle, the tax due in respect of which for the same period has already been paid by some other person 5 Exemption from tax.-(1) In the case of a motm· vehicle which 1s not intendt>d to be used or kept for use du1 mg the first month or the first and second monthc; of a quarter, or the whole of a quarter or year, as the cac;e may be, th,, registered owner or the person having possessiOn or control of such vehicle shall give prevwus mtimation 111 writmg to thf' Regwnal Transport Officer from whom the endorsement for tax has been obtamed, that such vehicle would not be used for such perwd, and thereupon, the registered owner or such other person shall not be deemed to have used or kept for use the vehicle for such penod, and no tax shall be payable 111 respect of such vehicle for such period (2) Nothmg m sub-sectiOn (1) shall exempt a person from hab1hty to pay tax in respect of a motor vehicle, if, on I \ I :-0 101 \·erification, 1t 1s found that the motor vehicle has been usetl durmg such penod or any portwn thereof (3) Notwithstanding anything con tamed m sub-section (1 ), in an appeal under sectwn 2~ or a revtsion under section 24, the burden of provmg that a motor vehtcle has not been used during any penod shall be on the registered owner or the person havmg possession or control of the motor'veh1cle, ac; the case may be. 6 Refund of tax.-Where the tax for any motor veh1cle has been pmd for any quarter or year and the veh1cle has not been used or kept for use dunng the whole of that quarter or year or a contmuous part thereof, not bemg less than one month. a refund of the tax at such ratec; as may, from ttme to ttme, be nottfied by the Governml'nt, sh ... ill be payable <;UbJeCt to such condihons as may be spectfied in such notificatwn 7 Payment of afldttional tax.-When any motor vehtcle in respect of which tax has been patd ts altered, used or proposed to be used. m such a manner ac; to cause the veh1cle to becom~ a vehtcle m respect of whtch a hrgher rate of tax IS payable, the reg1<stered owner or the person havmg possession or control of such vehicle shall pay an addtttOnal tax of a sum equal to the difference between the tax already pard and the tax whtch IS payable 111 respect of such vehtcle for the perwd for whtch the htgher rate of tax 1s payable in consequence of 1ts bemg so altered or used or proposed to be U<>ed, and the hce!1smg officet <,h...tll not grant a fresh tax hcence m respect of such v,·luck so all ered or used or proposed to be u~ed until suC'h amoun~ uf tax has been patd 8 Production of certificate of insurance.-Every regtstered :-Jwuet ot ::erson havmg possesswn or control of a motor vehtcle ':tall. at the time of makmg payment of the tax. produce before e TaxatJnn Officer a certificate of msurance m respect of the 1cle which ts valld at the time of making such payment, com- lllg wi1 h the r equu ements of Chap~er VIII of the Motor 1icle<> Act. 1939 (Central Act 4 of 1 939) 9 Liability to payment of tax by perc;ons succcedin~ to ownership, possession or control of mo1or vehicles.-(1) .!~1e tax leviable in respect of any motor vehicle remams 102 unpaid by any person liable for the payment thereof and such person before payment of the tax has transferred the owner- ship of such vehicle or has ceased to be in possession or control of such vehicle, the person to whom the ownership of the vehicle has been transferred or the person who has possession or control of such vehicle shall be liable to pay the satd tax. (2) Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall be deemed to affect the liability to pay the said tax of the person who has transferred the ownership or has ceased to be in possession or control of such vehicle.