Budget 2022: From BMWs to Lamborghinis, 220% ARF tax rate to drive up prices of luxury cars
PHOTO: sgCarMart
PUBLISHED ONFebruary 21, 2022 5:27 AM
New measures introduced today in the Budget 2022 are set to impact Singapore's car scene - and this time, the LTA is setting its sights on taxing ultra-luxury vehicles.
Key among the announcements is an impending extra tier of Additional Registration Fees (ARF) for luxury cars, which will see vehicles with an Open Market Value (OMV) in excess of $80,000 pay an ARF rate of 220 per cent. Previously, the highest tier applied to vehicles with an OMV in excess of $50,000, which would then have had to incur an ARF rate of 180 per cent.
The new rules mean that buyers of not just supercars, like those from Lamborghini and Ferrari, but also those of top-tier luxury cars, like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, should expect to pay higher premiums moving forward.
For instance, the BMW 7 Series 730Li M Sport has an OMV of $91,142, amounting to an ARF of $136,056 under the current 180 per cent multiplier on the upper-most tier. With the new rules, its ARF will shoot towards $140,512 - a more than $4,000 increase over its current ARF.
Take a Ferrari F8 Tributo with an OMV of $284,148, however, and the increase swells exponentially. After the first $80,000 is put through its paces, the new ARF would take the remaining $204,148 and apply the 220 per cent multiplier to it, adding more than $80,000 to its price compared to its ARF under current rules. The F8 Tributo currently sells at $998,000 without COE.
Also surprising to many is how quickly the new rules are set to kick in. The new ARF structure will start to be implemented from the second COE bidding exercise in February, which is already taking place next Wednesday, on Feb 23, 2022.
Budget 2022 also saw the same promises of prioritising EVs in the years to come, with reiterations that more charging stations are set to arrive at the doorsteps of residents in HDB estates. The government has also pledged to go carbon-neutral by mid-century.
The updated ARF is produced in the table below:
| Outgoing ARF Banding | Rate |
| First $20,000 of OMV | 100 per cent of OMV |
| Next $30,000 of OMV (i.e. $20,001 to $50,000) |
140 per cent of OMV |
| Above $50,000 of OMV (i.e. $50,001 and above) |
180 per cent of OMV |
| New ARF Banding | New rate |
| First $20,000 of OMV | 100 per cent of OMV |
| Next $30,000 of OMV (i.e. $20,001 to $50,000) |
140 per cent of OMV |
| Next $30,000 of OMV (i.e. $50,001 to $80,000) |
180 per cent of OMV |
| [NEW] Above $80,000 of OMV (i.e. $80,001 and above) |
220 per cent of OMV |
This article was first published in sgCarMart.