Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate

Oral Reply by Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow

Mr Victor Lye asked the Acting Minister for Transport

a.           whether studies were conducted on the impact of the revised Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate schedule on (i) car depreciation rates (ii) new car demand and (iii) COE renewal behaviour; and

b.           whether the findings can be shared.

Mr Victor Lye asked the Acting Minister for Transport in respect of the revision in Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate announced in Budget 2026, whether transitional measures were considered to mitigate unintended financial impacts on car buyers who planned purchases based on the previous depreciation framework.

Ms Poh Li San asked the Acting Minister for Transport on the revised Preferential Additional Registration Fee rebate

a.           how will it affect new car prices; and

b.           what recourse is there for buyers who have purchased new cars but have not yet registered their Certificates of Entitlement before 6 February 2026.

Reply by Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow:

1.           Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take questions 1 to 3 in today’s Order Paper? 

2.           The Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate was designed to encourage the renewal of the vehicle population to keep the vehicle fleet younger, and hence safer and less pollutive. With electric vehicles becoming more commonplace, there is now less of a need to encourage early deregistration through the PARF rebate. This is why we lowered the PARF rebate, and also reduced the rebate cap from $60,000 to $30,000. We do not expect the changes to affect COE renewal behaviour significantly. 

3.           The recent changes to vehicle taxes were implemented with immediate effect, in line with our general approach on market sensitive tax changes. In this case, it was to avoid bidders rushing to market, or distorting the COE market. This was the same approach we had taken in 2023 when the PARF rebate cap was implemented and the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) was raised. Vehicle taxes and rebates are also consistently levied at the point of registration, not the point of sale, to ensure all buyers in a specific COE bidding exercise are treated equally.

4.           Fewer than 2,000 car buyers with committed purchases are estimated to be affected. These include mostly buyers of higher-end internal combustion engine cars. Buyers with existing purchase agreements who have yet to secure a COE may wish to discuss with their dealers to come to a mutually acceptable agreement. We understand some dealers have already made alternative arrangements with affected buyers.