Four-wheeler dealers upset at being denied tax rebate
Vishal Sharma
New Delhi/ Agra. While the UP government’s sudden backtracking on the trade tax rebate offered by it earlier on automobile sales in the Sefai trade fair has left the local four-wheeler dealers gasping for air, two-wheeler and tractor dealers are on cloud nine at the hopes of a sudden boost in the number of customers following the conditional tax rebate offered by the state government on two- and three-wheelers and tractors during the fair.
Talking to Business Standard, Rajiv Gupta, former Chairman, National Chamber of Industries & Commerce, UP, said according to a conservative estimate, vehicles worth over Rs 250 crore were expected to be sold at the Sefai trade fair before the state government decided to make a compromise on the tax rebate issue by restricting the rebate from being extended to four-wheelers. This seriously undermined the concept of the trade fair, where most people had been making advance bookings for purchasing cars, not two-wheelers.
Gupta, who also owns a Yamaha dealership in Agra, said the modified tax rebate plan had significantly lessened the excitement among the automobile dealers, who were aware that the future of this trade fair depended on whether the Samajwadi Party could form the government after the assembly elections and had high hopes that the chief minister would allow for a trade tax rebate on all types of vehicles at least this time.
Now, he said the four-wheeler dealers had no reason left to linger on in the fair as nobody was interested in purchasing a four-wheeler less a fortnight away from the new year unless there was substantial gain in the form of tax rebate, which could extend up to Rs 50,000 on the higher models.
He said while two-wheeler dealers of Agra had begun replenishing their stocks for sale in the trade fair, for the Agra customers most dealers had offered a discount approximately equivalent to the trade tax rebate being offered in the fair, with both the company and the dealers taking the hit.
New Delhi/ Agra. While the UP government’s sudden backtracking on the trade tax rebate offered by it earlier on automobile sales in the Sefai trade fair has left the local four-wheeler dealers gasping for air, two-wheeler and tractor dealers are on cloud nine at the hopes of a sudden boost in the number of customers following the conditional tax rebate offered by the state government on two- and three-wheelers and tractors during the fair.
Talking to Business Standard, Rajiv Gupta, former Chairman, National Chamber of Industries & Commerce, UP, said according to a conservative estimate, vehicles worth over Rs 250 crore were expected to be sold at the Sefai trade fair before the state government decided to make a compromise on the tax rebate issue by restricting the rebate from being extended to four-wheelers. This seriously undermined the concept of the trade fair, where most people had been making advance bookings for purchasing cars, not two-wheelers.
Gupta, who also owns a Yamaha dealership in Agra, said the modified tax rebate plan had significantly lessened the excitement among the automobile dealers, who were aware that the future of this trade fair depended on whether the Samajwadi Party could form the government after the assembly elections and had high hopes that the chief minister would allow for a trade tax rebate on all types of vehicles at least this time.
Now, he said the four-wheeler dealers had no reason left to linger on in the fair as nobody was interested in purchasing a four-wheeler less a fortnight away from the new year unless there was substantial gain in the form of tax rebate, which could extend up to Rs 50,000 on the higher models.
He said while two-wheeler dealers of Agra had begun replenishing their stocks for sale in the trade fair, for the Agra customers most dealers had offered a discount approximately equivalent to the trade tax rebate being offered in the fair, with both the company and the dealers taking the hit.
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