Last updated: October 2026
Yes, you can claim a road tax refund in Kerala when your vehicle leaves the state or is taken off the road for good, but only on the conditions the law sets. Section 6(2) of the Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation Act, 1976 says a registered owner who has paid tax for a year or more is entitled to a refund at prescribed rates when the registration is cancelled, or when the vehicle is removed to a place outside Kerala on account of transfer of ownership or change of address. The refund is claimed at the RTO where the vehicle is registered in Kerala, after the move or the scrapping is complete, and it is paid to your bank account after the RTO verifies your papers. Green tax is not refundable.
| Your situation | Refund available? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle moved to another state and re-registered there | Yes, if tax was paid for a year or more | Removal outside Kerala on change of address, under Section 6(2) |
| Vehicle sold to a buyer in another state | Yes, if tax was paid for a year or more | Removal outside Kerala on transfer of ownership, under Section 6(2) |
| Vehicle scrapped and registration cancelled | Yes, if tax was paid for a year or more | Cancellation of registration, under Section 6(2) |
| Vehicle not used for a continuous period of at least one month | Yes, for quarterly or yearly tax paid | Non-use refund under Section 6(1), at rates notified by the government |
| Vehicle sold to a buyer inside Kerala | No | The vehicle stays in Kerala, so no removal or cancellation has happened |
| Green tax already paid | No | Green tax is excluded from the refund provision |
The key point for most private car owners is the one-time tax: Kerala collects it for 15 years at registration, so when the car leaves Kerala in year 6, the tax for the years after the move is the money you are claiming back. The same logic applies to a scrapped vehicle: the tax for the period after cancellation is what comes back, not the whole amount.
The Act does not print a refund table in Section 6 itself. It says the refund is paid at rates prescribed by the government, and the RTO computes it from the tax you paid, the tax period it covered, and the date the vehicle left Kerala or the registration was cancelled. Treat the figure on the RTO's own calculation as final.
To judge whether an offer or an estimate is in the right range, it helps to know how Kerala depreciates a vehicle's value by age. The state uses this age ladder when it assesses tax on a vehicle brought into Kerala from another state, and it is reproduced here as a guide to how value falls with age, not as the refund table itself:
| Age of vehicle | Value taken as a share of purchase value |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 year | 100% |
| More than 1 year, up to 2 years | 93% |
| More than 2 years, up to 3 years | 87% |
| More than 3 years, up to 4 years | 80% |
| More than 4 years, up to 5 years | 73% |
| More than 5 years, up to 6 years | 67% |
| More than 6 years, up to 7 years | 60% |
| More than 7 years, up to 8 years | 53% |
| More than 8 years, up to 9 years | 47% |
| More than 9 years, up to 10 years | 40% |
| More than 10 years, up to 11 years | 33% |
| More than 11 years, up to 12 years | 27% |
| More than 12 years, up to 13 years | 20% |
| More than 13 years, up to 14 years | 13% |
| More than 14 years, up to 15 years | 7% |
Verification gap: parivahan.gov.in and mvd.kerala.gov.in did not respond at research time in October 2026, so no current official Kerala refund-rate table could be read on an official page. The age ladder above is the published ladder Kerala applies when assessing tax on incoming vehicles, shown here only as a guide to depreciation. Do not treat it as a promised refund percentage: the RTO's calculation, at the prescribed rates in force when you apply, is the figure that matters.
For a vehicle moved out of Kerala, you will need: the original Kerala tax payment receipt, the old Kerala RC, the NOC issued by the Kerala RTO, the new registration certificate from the other state, the new state's tax payment receipt, your ID proof, and your bank account details for the refund credit. For a scrapped vehicle, you will need: the original Kerala tax payment receipt, the RC, the scrapping certificate or certificate of deposit from the registered scrapping facility, and proof that the registration has been cancelled. In both cases, keep copies of everything you submit, and keep the bank account in the registered owner's name.
First, do not claim before the move or the scrapping is finished. The claim rests on the cancellation or the removal, and without that proof the file cannot be verified. Second, do not claim a non-use refund for a period when the vehicle was actually used. Section 5 of the Act allows a non-use claim only on a prior written intimation to the RTO, and if verification finds the vehicle was used during the declared period, the exemption is lost and additional tax can follow; guides describe the exposure as up to twice the tax value, which is a reported figure, not a verified schedule in this post. Third, do not expect the green tax back, and do not expect a refund when the buyer is inside Kerala: neither case falls under Section 6(2).
No. The refund under Section 6(2) follows removal outside Kerala on transfer of ownership or change of address, which in practice means the vehicle is re-registered in the new state. A Kerala-registered vehicle still on Kerala plates has not been removed in the sense the Act requires.
No. Only the tax for the period after cancellation is refundable, at the prescribed rates. The tax for the years the vehicle was on the road in Kerala stays paid.
No online Kerala tax refund service could be verified at research time. The refund is an RTO counter process at the registering office, and the RTO's calculation is final.
Get the financier's consent and NOC in order before the move or the scrapping, as for any transfer or cancellation. A pending loan does not remove the refund right, but an incomplete NOC file stalls verification.
The refund is the last step of either move. For the outgoing NOC and re-registration route, see our guide to getting an NOC for a car transfer from Kerala to another state. For the scrapping route, see our guide to vehicle scrapping in Kerala. For the tax you paid in the first place, see our guides to Kerala road tax for a new car and paying Kerala road tax online.
Fees and rules change without notice. Verify all fees and rules on parivahan.gov.in before applying.
Keralam Transport