KARACHI: The Sindh government has planned to revise upward motor vehicle tax especially for vehicles of 1,300cc and above in the next budget.

A senior official of the excise and taxation department told this writer that the ‘rationalisation’ of motor vehicle tax, which has not been revised for the past five years, had become inevitable.

In Punjab the vehicle tax rate is much higher than Sindh as the excise authorities continue revision of taxes regularly, he added.

He said that to help owners of vehicles of up to 1,000cc it had been proposed to introduce a lifetime tax system. This will enable owners of low-cc cars to pay tax once in life at the time of registration.

The practice is currently in vogue for motorcycle owners who pay vehicle tax for life at the time of registration.

The official explained that the tax amount for a period of 10 years would compose the vehicle tax for life, which would be charged in lump sum.

The move would greatly help vehicle owners who would be free from the hassle of making queues at tax counters for payment of tax after every six months or a year.

The move to charge vehicle tax for life will bolster the government revenue as well.

It has also been proposed to introduce smart card replacing the existing system of issuing registration book to vehicle owners.

The card, to be issued to vehicle owners at the time of registration, will contain details of a vehicle, including chassis number, registration number, date of manufacturing and details of tax payment.

In the first stage, the smart card will be issued to owners of new cars and later to the owners approaching the motor vehicle department for transfers.

The excise and taxation department collected Rs3,372 million during July-Feb 2017 against Rs2,966m during the same period last year. The collection is Rs406m in excess of last year.

The excise and taxation department failed to introduce the online registration of vehicles and e-payment of vehicle tax.

The official explained that the projects were in the pipeline, but there was a remote chance of them becoming operational this year.

There also seems to be no progress on the project to open tax collection booths in each district attached to the Board of Revenue’s land record offices.

The official, however, confirmed that five new outlets for payment of vehicle tax at the National Bank of Pakistan branches will be available shortly.

These will be in addition to the existing 11 branches of the bank receiving vehicle tax.

The department plans to launch a road checking campaign soon to nab defaulters of vehicle tax.

The drive on average generates Rs40m to Rs50m every year and results in persuading owners in general to clear their tax dues.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2017