Budget 2023: Vehicle tax and COE revenue set to rise 4.6%

SINGAPORE - Revenue from motor vehicle taxes and certificates of entitlement (COEs) is expected to rise by 4.6 per cent this year to $6.42 billion.

Of this, motor vehicle taxes will account for $2.54 billion (11.9 per cent higher than the revised financial year 2022 estimate) and COEs, $3.88 billion (up 0.4 per cent).

Excise duty for motor vehicles is expected to total $279.9 million, or 7.1 per cent higher.

This is likely to be on the back of first,

a slightly bigger COE supply this year,

offset by softer average premiums. And second, the market share of higher-end cars should continue to grow, offset by concessions given to cleaner energy vehicles such as electric cars.

A newly announced increase in the additional registration fee – the main car tax – for higher-end cars will also contribute to this.

According to Land Transport Authority figures, bigger and more powerful cars accounted for 50.5 per cent of 2022’s car population of 650,208. In 2012, they made up 44.6 per cent of 617,556 cars here.

This trend is likely to continue as practically all COEs in the Open category are used for bigger cars.

Motor vehicle taxes, COE premiums and excise duty for vehicles (excluding attendant goods and services tax) make up 6.9 per cent of 2023’s estimated total operating revenue of $96.7 billion, which is 7.1 per cent higher than the revised FY2022 estimate of $90.28 billion.

The actual FY2021 revenue from vehicles, COEs and vehicular excise duty amounted to $5.78 billion, or 7 per cent of the total operating revenue of $82.49 billion.

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