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Regulations Regarding License Plates
Each of the fifty states in the United States maintain jurisdiction over certain laws rules and regulations. This allows states to govern their own tax base and infrastructure. One of the things that vary from state to state is license plates. All states do require that vehicles have license plates, but the cost and renewal policies differ.
In the state I live in you are required to have license plates on the front and rear of the vehicle. You are also required to purchase tabs that are placed on the lower right hand corner of the license plates. The license plates tab need to be purchased and replaced annually. After five years the license plates are replaced. The price of the tabs depends on the age and value of your vehicle. The more expensive the vehicle the more you spend on the tabs each year. In our state this is in addition to paying a sales tax at the time of purchasing the vehicle. This sales tax and license plates tax has to be paid each time the vehicle is sold. This means that a great deal of revenue is derived from license plates in our state.
In some states you purchase license plates at the time you buy your car and it is a one time fee. The license plates for that vehicle remain with it as long as it is in operation. License plates really cost you money if you go with a specialty plate or vanity plate. Some states charge over $100.00/ letter or number and $250.00 for a symbol. When I see the number of license plates that are custom done, I cannot believe the money people would spend for this. I guess that is why they are called vanity plates.
In some states the license plates are coded by area of the state you are from. Some states place the county you live in on the license plates. Still other states only require one license plate on the vehicle.
The difference in regulations regarding license plates effects how law enforcement agencies are able to track suspects. In the states that have less stringent laws surrounding the license plates, there are often plates that are no longer valid readily available to anyone that wants them. If you are trying to evade law enforcement this is a cheap way of changing the look of your vehicle and to keep from being detected.
It seems that it would make things easier for law enforcement agencies if license plates regulations were uniform from state to state. This would also create a fairer taxation between states.
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