^ That's really good. Here every jurisdiction has its own mind. E.g. in Karachi (where most of the cars are registered) you have to pay tax every year. It is a very small figure, around PKR 500/- for 800cc and so, that's why lots of people don't even care. But if you are stopped for papers, and the tax receipt is not there, there will be problems.
A few years ago the department noted that no motorcyclists are paying tax. So the collective tax (of 5 years IIRC which is the design life of 2-wheeler) is taken at the time of registration and the book is stamped 'lifetime tax paid'. Eventually somebody came up with the idea that since many car owners are not paying tax, the revenue which should have been earned should be added to the price of petrol. This way, even if people wouldn't pay the yearly tax, the government could recover its amount. The price of petrol was increased but interestingly the tax wasn't revoked.
Continuing with Karachi, another interesting point is that you can't pay the tax anywhere else. So you have to plan at least one trip of Karachi if you are using a Karachi registered car elsewhere. Or once a year, TCS your reg book to some relative in Karachi who would pay the tax and TCS it back to you.
It needs to be done every year because they won't accept more than one year's tax w/o much ado. Suppose you take to them PKR 5000 and tell them that you want to pay 10 years worth of tax at once, you won't be allowed to (I don't think there's any rule against it, but more b/c the clerks sitting there want you to come again and again to grease their palms). This stupid taxation system means people have to take leave from offices/colleges and go to submit tax, thus lessening productivity.
Now many Pakistanis wonder why all transport trucks are registered in Lasbela (LSx-xxxx number plates) or Zhob (ZTB-xxxx). This is because cars/trucks registered there have the same 'lifetime tax paid' privilege that 2-wheelers have in Karachi. Ironically, although these vehicles are 'lifetime tax paid', they still face the levy on fuel wherever they go.
Despite the obvious benefit of registering in Zhob or Lasbela (both are towns in Balochistan), most people still prefer Karachi number plate. For one, going there is not easy. Second, the record keeping is not good there, a lot of stolen vehicles are re-registered there and instances of multiple vehicles using the same number plate(!) are common. and that's why police are also suspicious of cars bearing that number plate. Truckers and bus-owners have closest ties with the police so they are more comfortable registering there.
Another benefit in Karachi is the CPLC (Citizens'-Police Liaison Committee). CPLC has a big database. Whenever you are buying a car, you can phone the CPLC helpline, tell them the reg. no, chassis no. and engine no. and they'll tell you whether the car has been involved in an accident, crime (some robbers steal/snatch vehicles, commit crime and abandon the vehicles in 2-4 hours, the vehicle is witnessed by the victims and number plate is included in the FIR which creates problems for the owner and also for any future buyer), simply put if the vehicle has a clear reputation or not. This is why many buyers also like to buy only Karachi number plate vehicles. As late as 2008 this facility wasn't available with Lahore CPLC, although Lahore authorities are much advanced than Karachi in many terms.
I salute you if you've read this far. This post is making it look more like 'west of your border'. Will you plz share whether you ppl also have a CPLC-like system there?
