Constitution Section 277 — Savings

Part XII — FINANCE, PROPERTY, CONTRACTS AND SUITS — General

Constitutional

Summary

Any taxes, duties, cesses, or fees that were being legally collected by a state government or a local body like a municipality or district authority just before the Constitution came into effect can continue to be collected for the same purposes. This is allowed even if those taxes are listed in the Union List, which normally only the central government can use. They can keep being collected until Parliament passes a law that says otherwise.

Official Text

Any taxes, duties, cesses or fees which, immediately before the commencement of this Constitution, were being lawfully levied by the Government of any State or by any municipality or other local authority or body for the purposes of the State, municipality, district or other local area may, notwithstanding that those taxes, duties, cesses or fees are mentioned in the Union List, continue to be levied and to be applied to the same purposes until provision to the contrary is made by Parliament by law.278. Agreement with States in Part B of the First Schedule with regard to certain financial matters..—Omitted by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29 and Sch.(w.e.f. 1-11-1956).