Just like other states of India, in TN too, it is mandatory to pay road tax at the time of registration of any vehicle with the regional transport office. The road tax rates in the state are calculated as per the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle Taxation Act, 1974.
In 2026, the road tax for private and commercial vehicles will be slightly different from one another. If you are going to get your vehicle registered with the nearest RTO and are looking for road tax that you need to pay, then check the rates from below.
Private Vehicle
For the private vehicles, i.e., cars, bikes and scooters, the road tax in Tamil Nadu is paid once, and then they can be driven on public roads without any problem for 15 years. The TN tax rates for cars and bikes/scooters are shared below.
Car:
- If the car’s ex-showroom price is ₹5 lakh or below, the applicable road tax rate is 12%.
- For the car, if the ex-showroom price is above ₹5 lakh but ₹10 lakh or below, the road tax rate is 13%.
- If the car costs ex-showroom above ₹10 lakh and ₹20 lakh or below, the applicable road tax rate is 18%.
- For the car’s price is above ₹20 lakh, the tax road tax rate is 20%.
Bike & Scooter:
- If any 2W had an ex-showroom price of ₹20,000 or below, the payable road tax is only 5%.
- Those 2Ws whose ex-showroom price is above ₹20,000 but ₹60,000 or below attract a road tax of 7%.
- The 2Ws with the ex-showroom price above ₹60,000 but ₹2 lakh or below have a road tax of 10%.
- For all 2Ws above the ex-showroom price of ₹2 lakh, the road tax is 12%.
Commercial Vehicle
The road tax for commercial vehicles such as buses, goods carriers and three-wheelers is paid quarterly, but the same for three-wheelers is paid annually. The TN road tax for commercial vehicles are as follows:
Bus:
- For the buses with the 30-people seating capacity, the road tax ranges from ₹1,500 to ₹2,000.
- For buses with more than 30 but 60 or below seating capacity, the road tax rate ranges from ₹2,000 to ₹4,000.
- For a bus whose seating capacity is above 60 people, the road tax rate is above ₹4,000.
Goods Carrier:
- If the goods carrier’s gross vehicle weight is up to 3,000 kg, then the applicable road tax rate is ₹600.
- For those goods carriers which weigh more than 3,000 kg but 5,500 kg or below, attract the road tax of ₹950.
- Those goods carried which have a gross weight above 5,500 kg but 9,000 kg or below need to pay ₹1,500 road tax.
- If any good weighs more than 9,000 kg but 12,000 kg or below, it attracts a road tax of ₹1,900.
- If a goods carrier’s weight is above 12,000 kg but below 15,000 kg, the road tax rate ranges from ₹2,100 to ₹2,500.
- The good carrier with gross weight above 15,000 kg needs to pay ₹2,500 and additional charges.
Three-wheelers:
- Autos, which carry passengers, attract the road tax of ₹600 for each seat.
- The autos which carry goods are required to pay ₹1,000 as road tax for each tonne.
Commercial vehicles, which are required to pay the road tax annually/quarterly, can do so by visiting the nearest regional transport office. Ensure that you pay the road tax on time; otherwise, you may face legal consequences and pay a big penalty.
