An ARF calculator does one job: it turns your car's Open Market Value (OMV) into the Additional Registration Fee that LTA charges when the car is first registered. ARF is the single biggest tax on a Singapore car, and because it climbs in steps, a $5,000 difference in OMV can swing the tax by more than $5,000. The maths is simple once you have the tiers, so this guide gives you the 2026 rates, the minimum ARF, the new PARF rebate that comes back when you scrap, and three worked examples you can copy for your own car.
The Additional Registration Fee is a tax LTA imposes when a vehicle is registered for the first time in Singapore. It is charged as a percentage of the car's OMV, the value Singapore Customs assigns based on the purchase price, freight, insurance and other costs of bringing the car into the country. OMV is not the showroom price; it sits well below what you pay, because the showroom figure already bakes in ARF, COE, GST, the dealer's margin and the registration fee.
ARF is separate from the Certificate of Entitlement, which you win by bidding. COE buys you the right to put a car on the road for ten years; ARF taxes the car's value on top of that. Both are paid once at registration, but only one of them gives money back later, which matters when you decide how long to keep the car.
If you want the plain-English version of each term before running numbers, the ARF glossary entry and the OMV glossary entry define them in a sentence each.
ARF is tiered, so different slices of your OMV are taxed at different rates. You do not apply one rate to the whole OMV. For cars registered with COEs from the second February 2023 bidding exercise onwards, which covers everything you can buy in 2026, the rates are:
| OMV slice | ARF rate | Tax on this slice (if fully used) |
|---|---|---|
| First $20,000 | 100% | $20,000 |
| $20,001 to $40,000 | 140% | $28,000 |
| $40,001 to $60,000 | 190% | $38,000 |
| $60,001 to $80,000 | 250% | $50,000 |
| Above $80,000 | 320% | no ceiling |
Take your OMV and fill the tiers from the bottom up. Tax each slice at its own rate, then add the slices together. A car with an OMV of $19,192 sits entirely inside the first tier, so its ARF is simply $19,192 at 100%, which equals $19,192. A car with an OMV above $80,000 pays the full $136,000 from the first four tiers, then 320% on everything beyond $80,000.
These show the tiered method on a budget car, a mid-range car and a luxury car. Plug your own OMV into the same steps and you have built your own ARF calculator. OMV figures vary by model and trim, so treat the values below as illustrative round numbers rather than quotes for a specific car.
| Example | OMV | Tier breakdown | ARF payable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget car | $20,000 | $20,000 at 100% | $20,000 |
| Mid-range car | $40,000 | $20,000 at 100% + $20,000 at 140% | $48,000 |
| Luxury car | $90,000 | $20k + $28k + $38k + $50k, then $10,000 at 320% | $168,000 |
The mid-range car pays $48,000 of tax on $40,000 of value, already more than the value itself. The luxury car pays $168,000 of ARF on $90,000 of OMV because the last $10,000 alone attracts $32,000 at the top rate. This is the design intent: the tiers make expensive cars pay disproportionately more tax. If you are sizing up a whole car budget rather than just the tax, the car cost calculator stacks ARF on top of COE, GST and running costs.
Part of your ARF returns as the Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate when you deregister a car within its first ten years. The rebate is a percentage of the ARF you originally paid, and from February 2026 that percentage and its cap were cut sharply. Which schedule applies depends on when the car's COE was obtained, not when you scrap it.
Cars registered with COEs from the second February 2026 bidding exercise onwards, and COE-exempt cars registered on or after 13 February 2026, fall under the new, lower schedule with a $30,000 cap. Cars registered with COEs from February 2023 up to the first February 2026 bidding exercise keep the older, more generous schedule capped at $60,000.
| Age at deregistration | Old schedule (Feb 2023 to first Feb 2026 bidding) | New schedule (from second Feb 2026 bidding) |
|---|---|---|
| Not more than 5 years | 75% | 30% |
| Above 5 to 6 years | 70% | 25% |
| Above 6 to 7 years | 65% | 20% |
| Above 7 to 8 years | 60% | 15% |
| Above 8 to 9 years | 55% | 10% |
| Above 9 to 10 years | 50% | 5% |
| More than 10 years | Nil | Nil |
| Cap | $60,000 | $30,000 |
Take the mid-range car above with $48,000 of ARF, scrapped just under the ten-year mark. Under the old schedule it returns 50% of ARF, so $24,000. Under the new schedule it returns 5%, so $2,400. That $21,600 gap is the headline change drivers feel from the February 2026 revision. The rebate forms part of the lump sum you receive when a car is scrapped or exported, alongside any unused COE value, which we break down in the guide to scrap, COE and PARF rebates.
The Vehicular Emission Scheme adjusts ARF up or down based on the car's emissions band. A cleaner car gets a rebate that reduces ARF; a more pollutive one pays a surcharge on top. For 2026 the cleanest cars sit in Band A with a $22,500 ARF rebate, reduced from $25,000 in earlier years. Electric cars can also draw the EV Early Adoption Incentive of up to $7,500 off ARF, stacking with the Band A rebate.
Because these adjustments hit the ARF line, an EV with a low OMV can see its ARF pushed down toward the $5,000 floor once both incentives apply. A petrol car in a surcharge band pays its tiered ARF plus the penalty, which is why two cars with the same OMV can carry very different upfront tax.
ARF is the largest single tax but not the only upfront cost. The showroom price you are quoted bundles OMV, ARF, the COE you win at auction, GST charged on OMV, and a flat $350 registration fee. After registration you pay annual road tax based on engine capacity or power rating, plus insurance and fuel or charging.
Knowing ARF on its own helps you sanity-check a dealer quote: work out the OMV-driven ARF, add the prevailing COE for the category, and you can see roughly how much of the price is tax versus margin. For the broader running-cost picture once the car is on the road, the guide to what drives the cost of a car in Singapore covers depreciation, road tax and the rest.
ARF is calculated on the Open Market Value assessed by Singapore Customs, not the showroom price. The showroom price already includes ARF, COE, GST and dealer margin, so it is far higher than OMV. Always start an ARF calculation from the OMV figure.
The minimum ARF for a car is $5,000, even if the tiered calculation or VES rebates would otherwise bring it below that. Low-OMV electric cars often land at this floor once the Band A rebate and EV incentive are applied to the raw ARF figure.
It depends on the car's COE date. Cars on the pre-February 2026 schedule return 50% to 75% of ARF paid, capped at $60,000. Cars registered with COEs from the second February 2026 bidding exercise return only 5% to 30%, capped at $30,000, and nothing after ten years.
Most gaps come from the OMV used or from VES adjustments. Online calculators often assume a rounded OMV, and they may not apply the current Band A rebate, EV incentive or surcharge, or the $5,000 minimum ARF. Recheck the OMV and the emissions band before trusting any single figure.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.