Newly announced ARF rates will affect cars with OMV above $20,000

A tiered Additional Registration Fee (ARF) structure will replace the existing 100 percent flate rate of the Open Market Value (OMV) for cars, taxis, and goods-cum-passenger vehicles. The new tiered ARF structure will apply to every car that is registered under COEs obtained from the upcoming COE bidding exercise in March 2013.

Under the new ARF structure (right table), cars costing up to $20,000 will not be affected but the next $30,000 ($20,001 ~ $50,000) will be taxed 140 percent of incremental OMV while cars that cost above $50,000 will be taxed 180 percent of incremental OMV.

According to The Straits Times, the increased ARF rates will contribute around $150 million annually. With the change, luxury cars like an Audi A5 or a BMW 5 Series will see ARF costs rising as much as 22 percent or 42 percent respectively.

To facilitate the change in the ARF rates, the first COE bidding exercise for March 2013 will be postponed by one week which will affect bidding dates in April as well. The COE bidding schedule from May 2013 onwards will not be affected.

You can refer to the adjusted COE timetable in our gallery.