Punjab token tax 2026-27: Rs 20,000 up to 1000cc, then 0.3% or 0.4% of the invoice price
A car with an invoice price of Rs 5,000,000 now owes Rs 15,000 a year in Punjab token tax. Last year the same car owed Rs 10,000. The rate rose from 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent of the invoice price on 1 July 2026, and for cars above 2000cc it rose from 0.3 percent to 0.4 percent. A Rs 10,000,000 car above 2000cc owes Rs 40,000. A small car up to 1000cc owes a flat Rs 20,000.
That split — flat for small cars, a percentage for everything bigger — is the whole story of the 2026-27 token tax in Punjab. It replaced the old fixed slabs, under which a car paid Rs 1,800 to Rs 15,000 depending on engine size, whatever it cost. Now the tax follows the price. The Excise and Taxation Department's Motor Vehicle Tax page carries the 2026-27 and 2025-26 columns side by side. The page prints the percentage on the 1001–1199cc row and on the 2001–2500cc row. The band structure — 1001 to 2000cc at 0.3 percent, above 2000cc at 0.4 percent — comes from the Punjab Finance Bill 2026 reporting, which PakWheels reported as formally approved with the rates in effect from 1 July 2026. This article uses both: the Excise page for the figures, the Finance Bill reporting for the bands.
Three bands, and a percentage instead of a slab
Motorcycles are the simplest case, and the one most often misreported. The Excise page lists a motorcycle token of Rs 1,500 at the time of registration, the same figure in the 2026-27, 2025-26 and 2023-24 columns. That is the token. The cc-banded motorcycle figures on the same page — Rs 1,000 up to 70cc, Rs 1,500 for 71 to 100cc, Rs 2,000 for 101 to 125cc, Rs 2,500 for 126 to 150cc, and 2 percent of value above 150cc — sit under the new-registration rate heading. They are the registration fee, not the token tax. Keep them apart and the motorcycle bill is straightforward. The same add-on rule applies to the Honda bike prices in Pakistan for November 2026: the showroom price is never the road price.
Cars up to 1000cc pay Rs 20,000. The Excise page shows Rs 20,000 in both the 2026-27 and 2025-26 columns, and Rs 15,000 in the 2023-24 column. The flat figure did not rise this year. For the owner of a small car, that is the whole token bill.
Above 1000cc, the invoice price decides. At 0.3 percent, Rs 3,000,000 means Rs 9,000, Rs 4,000,000 means Rs 12,000, and Rs 5,000,000 means Rs 15,000. At 0.4 percent, Rs 5,000,000 means Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000,000 means Rs 40,000. The old 2025-26 rates on the same invoices were Rs 6,000, Rs 8,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 30,000. Every car above 1000cc pays half as much again as last year on the percentage alone. A 1300cc car that cost Rs 4,000,000 went from Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000. A 2000cc-plus car at Rs 10,000,000 went from Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000.
The table below reproduces the Excise page's columns. The income tax and professional tax columns are complete on the page for every band, and they are part of the same bill, so they are included here. They are separate taxes, collected alongside the token tax. Do not read the income tax column as token tax. The 2023-24 column is the old fixed-slab system, included so nobody mistakes it for the current one.
| Engine capacity | Token tax 2026-27 | Token tax 2025-26 | Token tax 2023-24 | Income tax filer | Income tax non-filer | Professional tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motorcycle, at registration | Rs 1,500 | Rs 1,500 | Rs 1,500 | — | — | Rs 200 |
| Motor cars, 1000cc | Rs 20,000 | Rs 20,000 | Rs 15,000 | Rs 10,000 | Rs 30,000 | Rs 200 |
| 1001–1199cc | 0.3% of invoice price | 0.2% of invoice price | Rs 1,800 | Rs 1,500 | Rs 4,500 | Rs 200 |
| 1200–1299cc | 0.3% band | 0.2% band | Rs 1,800 | Rs 1,750 | Rs 5,250 | Rs 200 |
| 1300cc | 0.3% band | 0.2% band | Rs 1,800 | Rs 2,500 | Rs 7,500 | Rs 200 |
| 1301–1499cc | 0.3% band | 0.2% band | Rs 6,000 | Rs 2,500 | Rs 7,500 | Rs 200 |
| 1500cc | 0.3% band | 0.2% band | Rs 6,000 | Rs 3,750 | Rs 11,250 | Rs 200 |
| 1501–1599cc | 0.3% band | 0.2% band | Rs 9,000 | Rs 3,750 | Rs 11,250 | Rs 200 |
| 1600–1999cc | 0.3% band | 0.2% band | Rs 9,000 | Rs 4,500 | Rs 13,500 | Rs 200 |
| 2000cc | 0.3% band | 0.2% band | Rs 9,000 | Rs 10,000 | Rs 30,000 | Rs 200 |
| 2001–2500cc | 0.4% of invoice price | 0.3% of invoice price | Rs 12,000 | Rs 10,000 | Rs 30,000 | Rs 200 |
| Above 2500cc | 0.4% band | 0.3% band | Rs 15,000 | Rs 10,000 | Rs 30,000 | Rs 200 |
A 1300cc car paid a fixed Rs 1,800 in token tax in 2023-24. On a Rs 4,000,000 invoice it pays Rs 12,000 now. The honest comparison is year on year under the same system: 0.2 to 0.3 percent, and 0.3 to 0.4 percent.
The bill is bigger than the token tax
Nobody pays token tax alone. The Excise page's table collects income tax and professional tax in the same row, and the income tax column is where filer status bites. A filer with a 1300cc car pays Rs 2,500 in income tax. A non-filer with the same car pays Rs 7,500 — three times as much, on every row of the table. Professional tax is Rs 200 on every row, filer or not. So the 1300cc filer with a Rs 5,000,000 invoice pays Rs 15,000 token tax plus Rs 2,500 income tax plus Rs 200 professional tax: Rs 17,700 in all. The non-filer pays Rs 15,000 plus Rs 7,500 plus Rs 200: Rs 22,700. The difference is Rs 5,000, and it has nothing to do with the car. Always read the row across, not down the token column.
Registration and transfer are separate charges again, and they are percentage-based too. New registration costs 1 percent of value up to 1000cc, 2 percent from 1001 to 2000cc, and 4 percent above 2000cc. On a Rs 5,000,000 car in the middle band, that is Rs 100,000 at first registration — more than six times the year's token tax. Transfer fees are fixed: Rs 910 for a motorcycle or scooter, Rs 4,540 up to 1000cc, Rs 9,075 from 1001 to 1800cc, and Rs 18,150 above 1800cc. Capital Value Tax applies on every transfer, and at new registration if it has not already been paid, on vehicles above 1300cc: 1 percent of value, with 10 percent depreciation a year, over five years, and zero after six. Withholding tax at new registration, in force from 1 July 2024, runs from 0.5 percent of value for a filer up to 850cc to 12 percent above 3000cc, with non-filer rates three times the filer rates. None of these is token tax. All of them can land in the same transaction.
Pay early, transfer late, and the electric exception
There is one discount in the system, and its window for this financial year has already closed. The Excise page allows a rebate of 10 percent of the annual token tax if the tax for the whole year is paid on or before 31 August of the financial year. On a Rs 12,000 token bill that is Rs 1,200 off, leaving Rs 10,800. On Rs 40,000 it is Rs 4,000 off. The wording is standing, so it returns next August.
The transfer rule favours patience. If a motorcycle is transferred within ten years of registration, a lifetime token amount of Rs 1,500 is charged, with a rebate of 10 percent for each financial year that has passed. If a car up to 1000cc is transferred within ten years, the amount is Rs 20,000, with the same rebate. Worked straight from the wording, a car transferred after three financial years pays Rs 20,000 less three lots of Rs 2,000: Rs 14,000. A motorcycle transferred after three years pays Rs 1,500 less three lots of Rs 150: Rs 1,050. The page does not say what happens after ten years, and this article does not guess.
Electric vehicles get the largest relief on the page. The Excise Department lists 95 percent of the registration fee as exempted and 99 percent of Motor Vehicle Tax as exempted. On a Rs 12,000 token bill, 99 percent exempted would leave Rs 120. That is the arithmetic of the page's wording, included as the page's wording, not as a promise at the counter. Confirm the current treatment before buying on the strength of it.
Late registration carries its own additional fee, separate from any token charge. Motorcycles, scooters and rickshaws registered more than 30 days late pay an extra Rs 500. Private and commercial vehicles registered more than 60 days but not more than 180 days late pay an extra Rs 2,000, and more than 180 days late pay an extra Rs 5,000. No late-payment surcharge rate for token tax itself appears on the Excise page, so none is stated here.
What to check before you pay
The one definition the Excise page does not give is the one every percentage calculation needs: what counts as the invoice price. The page does not say whether it is the ex-showroom price, the price at first registration, or a value frozen at some earlier date. Do not assume. Check the exact amount the system produces for your own vehicle on e-Pay Punjab or the Motor Transport Management Information System before paying, and keep the receipt. The Excise Department's services page lists online payment of excise dues through e-Pay Punjab. The worked examples here use round invoice values so the arithmetic can be checked.
Commercial vehicles run on a different table: annual token tax from Rs 1,000 for laden capacity up to 4,060 kg to Rs 24,000 above 16,000 kg. Passenger vehicles plying for hire pay per seat. None of that belongs in a private car bill.
Token tax is the fixed annual part of the running-cost picture, priced the same check-first way as the driving licence fee in Punjab for 2026 and the October petrol and diesel notifications and household budgets. Price it once a year, correctly, and the monthly budget stops surprising you.
Token tax figures here are from the Excise and Taxation Department Punjab Motor Vehicle Tax page and PakWheels' Punjab Finance Bill 2026 reporting (approved, effective 1 July 2026). This is general information, not tax advice. The Excise page does not define "invoice price" and prints no late-token surcharge rate; confirm the exact amount due for your vehicle on e-Pay Punjab or MTMIS before paying.
