Compensation cess accumulated in auto cos books to lapse on Sep 22: Official

New Delhi, Sep 9 (PTI) An estimated Rs 2,500 crore accumulated compensation cess on the books of auto companies will lapse on September 22, when the new GST rates come into effect, an official said.

Currently, automobiles are subject to GST at 28 per cent, which is the highest slab, and on top of it, a compensation cess ranging from 1 per cent to 22 per cent is levied, depending on the type of vehicle.

The total tax incidence on cars, depending on engine capacity and length, ranges from 29 per cent for small petrol cars to 50 per cent for SUVs.

Effective September 22, petrol and diesel cars with engine capacities of up to 1,200 cc and 1,500 cc will attract 18 per cent GST, while those above that will attract the highest 40 per cent.

Compensation cess on automobiles will cease to exist effective September 22.

Auto companies have flagged concerns related to accumulated cess in their books and have demanded either allowing it to be adjusted with their tax liability or a refund.

According to reports, the accumulated cess is about Rs 2,500 crore, which, if not allowed to adjust, will have to be reversed in the accounting books of companies.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said industry concerns about the accumulation of cess have been raised in various representations.

"Compensation cess was imposed for a particular purpose...Once the levy is gone, whatever credit is lying, it will remain lying in their books," Agarwal said at the NDTV Profit GST Conclave 2025.

"Whenever cess is discontinued. In past, cesses have been discontinued. What happened in those cases? In those cases also, what was lying in the books could not be utilised because the levy itself is gone.

"The same thing has happened in the case of automobiles also, or maybe wherever cess is discontinued. It is not only an automobile, it is, in the case of aerated water, coal," Agarwal said.

Under the GST law, companies can only adjust accumulated cess with their cess liability, just like taxes paid on inputs can be adjusted only against output tax liability.

Explaining why the compensation cess was levied, the CBIC chief said it was initially imposed for 5 years of GST rollout till June 22 to compensate states for revenue loss. However, to make good the shortfall in revenue during Covid, the cess was extended to repay the loan of Rs 2.69 lakh crore that the centre had taken to compensate states for the loss of revenue suffered by them. PTI JD BAL BAL