The Thanjavur North District Committee of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam (TNVS), farmers wing of Communist Party of India (CPI), has called for scaling down of Value Added Tax levied on diesel for tractors and on the sale of these vehicles to farmers.In a memorandum to the Union and State governments and submitted at the Regional Divisional Officer, Kumbakonam, for forwarding the same to the offices concerned, on June 8, the sangam pointed out that VAT was being levied along with GST by the dealers selling the machine to farmers who purchase them for agriculture operations.Further, road tax was being charged during the purchase though there were stringent rules such as these vehicles should not be operated on national highways and other ‘expressways’. Above all these, VAT was being collected while diesel bought for operating these vehicles primarily used for agriculture operations, the memorandum added.Demanding that tractors should be added to the list of agriculture implements, TNVS urged the Centre to withdraw National Calamity Contingency Duty and the State government to withdraw VAT on sale of tractors, diesel for tractors, and road tax.Earlier, the sangam organised a tractor rally from near the Court Round About to the RDO office, Kumbakonam. Published - June 08, 2026 04:40 pm IST