Road tax renewal and vehicle use in Singapore
When road tax must be renewed, the prerequisites and payment channels, late renewal consequences, and checks before using a vehicle.
Primary source: https://onemotoring.lta.gov.sg/content/onemotoring/home/owning/ongoing-car-costs/road-tax.html
Road tax is part of vehicle ownership tax. A registered vehicle must have valid road tax, renewed for 6 or 12 months. LTA advises checking the vehicle's expiry date and renewing before it expires (OneMotoring, Road Tax).
COE is a separate requirement
Road tax and the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) are separate requirements. LTA says a COE gives the right to own and use a vehicle in Singapore; when it expires, the vehicle is automatically deregistered and cannot be used on roads until the COE is renewed. LTA allows renewal before expiry or within one month after expiry with a late fee; after that, the vehicle must be disposed of (OneMotoring, COE Renewal).
Renewal requirements
Meet the renewal prerequisites at least 1 working day before paying. The vehicle must have insurance covering third-party liability for death and bodily injury throughout the entire road-tax period, pass its periodic inspection if one is due, and clear outstanding fines or warrants from LTA, HDB, URA, or Traffic Police that would prevent renewal (OneMotoring, Road Tax).
Additional requirements apply to some vehicles:
- Weekend Cars, Off-Peak Cars, and Revised Off-Peak Cars require inspection of their number-plate seals and can renew road tax only for 12 months.
- Heavy vehicles must have a valid Vehicle Parking Certificate. LTA's listed heavy-vehicle classes include vehicles with maximum laden weight over 5,000 kg, buses with seating capacity over 15 passengers, trailers, mobile cranes, and recovery vehicles with unladen weight over 2,500 kg (OneMotoring, Road Tax).
If inspection is due, LTA sends a notice about 3 months before road tax expires. A lost notice is not needed to get the vehicle inspected at an LTA-authorised inspection centre (OneMotoring, Road Tax).
Payment and amount
LTA lists four renewal channels: OneMotoring online, AXS, GIRO, and authorised Road Tax Collection Centres. From 1 February 2025, inspection centres do not accept cash, cheque, or cashier’s order for road-tax renewal; check LTA's page for current collection-centre hours and accepted payment methods. For online or AXS renewal, the prerequisites must be met at least 1 working day before payment. For new GIRO sign-ups from 29 December 2024, LTA automatically includes every vehicle registered in the owner's name, both existing vehicles and future registrations; vehicles must be added manually to older GIRO arrangements. The default deduction is 5 working days before expiry. LTA sends a payment schedule about 1 month before expiry, stating the deduction date and the deadline for meeting renewal prerequisites. If the prerequisites are not met by that deadline, the deduction fails and the road tax should be renewed promptly by another method. If the scheduled deduction falls on a weekend or public holiday, it is made one working day earlier; keep sufficient funds and a suitable payment limit in the GIRO account (OneMotoring, Road Tax).
The payable amount depends on the vehicle and its attributes. LTA provides digital services to check the amount by vehicle registration number or calculate it using engine capacity and vehicle age. LTA's published annual surcharge is 10% of road tax for a vehicle more than 10 years old, increasing by 10 percentage points for each additional year, up to 50% for a vehicle more than 14 years old (OneMotoring, Road Tax).
If road tax expires
Renewal after expiry attracts a late fee. LTA's fee schedule varies by vehicle type, engine capacity for some vehicle types, and how long the tax has been expired, so check the current schedule for the vehicle rather than relying on a single flat amount. LTA also says it is an offence to keep or use a vehicle after road tax expires and that the penalty includes a fine up to $2,000 (OneMotoring, Road Tax).
The Road Traffic Act makes it an offence to use or keep on a road a vehicle for which no vehicle licence is in force. The ordinary maximum court fine is $2,000; if the court is satisfied that the person intended to evade tax, the Act provides a fine calculated at three times the tax payable for the relevant period (Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 15).
Taking a vehicle off the road
If a vehicle will not be used for an extended period, LTA allows its owner to apply to place it in lay-up. A laid-up vehicle must remain at its declared garage address and cannot be used or kept on a public road or place; driving it revokes its lay-up status and LTA says road tax becomes payable from its last expiry date. A vehicle may be laid up for up to one year per application, cannot remain laid-up past COE expiry, and may be laid-up consecutively for at most three years before automatic deregistration if it is not re-licensed. To use the vehicle again, the owner must meet road-tax renewal prerequisites and pay road tax. Lay-up applications, special approvals, COE effects, and PARF eligibility are covered in LTA’s Vehicle Lay-Up guide (OneMotoring, Vehicle Lay-Up).
Since 15 February 2017, drivers do not need to display a road-tax disc on the windscreen; LTA says expired discs should be removed. For travel to Malaysia, LTA advises keeping a valid copy of the vehicle's certificate of insurance and a PDF copy or printout of its latest road-tax validity in the vehicle (OneMotoring, Road Tax).
Buying, selling, or deregistering
When buying or selling a second-hand vehicle, or when a vehicle changes hands, LTA says ownership must be transferred to the new owner within 7 days. Before confirming a transfer, the buyer must have valid motor insurance in their own name for the vehicle, covering the full period of its valid road tax. The buyer should also confirm that the ownership transfer is complete and that the vehicle details match LTA's records (OneMotoring, Transfer ownership).
Before driving a used vehicle, check that its road tax is still valid. Paid road tax remains with a vehicle when it is sold. When a vehicle is deregistered, LTA automatically refunds any unused road tax to the last registered owner. LTA says a vehicle's road tax must be renewed if it expires before the vehicle can be sold or deregistered (OneMotoring, Road Tax). LTA also says a road-tax GIRO arrangement is automatically terminated when the vehicle is transferred or deregistered, or when the owner's identification type or number changes. If an owner manually terminates GIRO, LTA advises informing the bank separately as well (OneMotoring, Road Tax).
Coverage debt
- Exact road-tax rates vary with vehicle details and can change. Use LTA's current enquiry or calculator for a specific vehicle rather than reproducing rates here.
- Special prerequisites for some vehicle classes and schemes may apply; check the current LTA renewal page and prerequisite enquiry for the vehicle.