-The Economic Times Petrol car owners in Delhi will get some relief from the recent steep rise in petrol price after the state government decided not to levy value added tax on the price hike announced by the oil marketing companies on last Wednesday. Tobacco products will get costlier, court fee will increase and circle rates for property are expected to rise resulting in steeper stamp duty on property transactions. Public transport...

-The Economic Times The government has no immediate plans to raise the retail prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas, Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy said on Monday. "I am not touching (the prices of) diesel, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) or kerosene," Reddy said, adding, no date has yet been fixed for a meeting of a ministerial panel to review the prices of the three subsidised fuels. State-owned oil fuel retailers announced an...

The government's efforts to widen the tax base are not paying off. New tax payers added over the past three years show a decline, while a staggering 89% of existing assessees are bunched in the lowest income bracket of Rs 5 lakh or less a year.  Numbers point to a worrying trend the government would want to reverse as while 17,84,709 assessees were added in 2008-09, the figure slid to 16,75,069...

-The Telegraph The Union urban development ministry has proposed three new taxes on private vehicle owners: on vehicle purchases, petrol and insurance. The aim is to fund public transport in cities and deter the use of private vehicles The Rs 40,000 crore that the ministry proposes to raise annually through the “green surcharge”, “green cess” and “urban transport tax” is to go to a national urban transport fund that will finance transport schemes. Urban...

-PTI A government sub-committee looking into probable sources of funds for urban transport projects in the 12th Plan has suggested the creation of a national fund, resource for which can be generated through taxes on vehicles and petrol consumption.  The recent report of the Sub-Committee on Financing Urban Infrastructure in the 12th Plan said investments to the tune of 87,000 crore were required in the Five Year Plan duration.  The huge investment needs...