Vehicle emissions schemes and cleaner-vehicle incentives

Singapore applies different emissions-related registration incentives according to vehicle type and registration period. For cars and taxis, the applicable Carbon Emission-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) or Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) depends on the registration date. Commercial vehicles may instead fall under the Commercial Vehicle Emissions Scheme (CVES) or, for eligible heavy zero-tailpipe-emission vehicles, the Heavy Vehicle Zero Emissions Scheme (HVZES) (OneMotoring, Vehicle Emission Schemes; OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

Cars and taxis: VES

For cars and taxis registered from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027, VES assesses carbon dioxide (CO₂), hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), and particulate matter (PM). The vehicle’s worst-performing pollutant determines its band. LTA uses an emissions factor of 0.4 g CO₂/Wh to rate electricity consumption for an electric or plug-in hybrid car (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

For cars registered in this period, the VES rebate or surcharge is:

For cars and taxis registered in this period, the band thresholds are the same even though rebate and surcharge amounts differ by vehicle type. The worst-performing pollutant determines the band (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure):

These are pollutant-specific limits for each band. A vehicle is assigned according to its worst-performing pollutant, so its measurements need not fall in the same row for every pollutant.

The rebate offsets the Additional Registration Fee (ARF). The ordinary minimum ARF is $5,000; for fully electric cars registered from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2027, LTA lowers that minimum to $0. Taxi VES amounts are set out in a separate schedule and differ from the car amounts in the table (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

For non-electric and electric taxis registered from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027, LTA publishes separate taxi schedules with the same amounts for both types. These taxi amounts differ from the car schedule above (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure):

For fully electric taxis registered from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2027, LTA lowers the minimum ARF from $5,000 to $0. The taxi’s band still depends on the pollutant thresholds in LTA’s schedule (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

LTA publishes the following earlier taxi rebate and surcharge amounts for both non-electric and electric taxi schedules. The CEVS amounts applied from 1 July 2015 to 31 December 2017; the later rows are VES schedules. For the 2021–2023 schedule, the listed C1 and C2 surcharges applied to taxis registered from 1 July 2021 (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure):

*For the 2021–2023 schedule, C1 and C2 surcharges apply from 1 July 2021. The minimum ARF qualification and the applicable emissions criteria depend on the schedule and taxi registration date; these amounts alone do not determine a vehicle’s band (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

The Electric Vehicle Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI) is a separate ARF rebate. A new or imported used fully electric car or taxi registered from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 receives a rebate of 45% of ARF, capped at $7,500. LTA says the EEAI ends after 31 December 2026 (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

Light commercial vehicles: CVES

The CVES applies to eligible new and imported used light commercial vehicles with a maximum laden weight of not more than 3,500 kg, including light goods vehicles, goods-cum-passenger vehicles, and small buses. For qualifying vehicles registered from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2027, the current bands provide a $15,000 incentive for Band A, no incentive or surcharge for Band B, and a $20,000 surcharge for Band C. The light-goods-vehicle thresholds for this period are below; the worst-performing pollutant determines the band. For electric or plug-in hybrid light-goods vehicles, LTA adds CO₂ from electricity generation using 0.4 g CO₂/Wh before applying the CO₂ thresholds (LTA and NEA, Commercial Vehicle Emissions Scheme and Early Turnover Scheme Extended; OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure):

LTA publishes the same thresholds for its current light-goods-vehicle, goods-cum-passenger vehicle, omnibus, excursion-bus, private-bus, private-hire-bus, and school-bus schedules. Each vehicle-type section sets its own eligibility conditions; for example, the omnibus CVES applies only to vehicles with maximum laden weight not more than 3.5 metric tonnes that paid ARF at registration (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

Former Early Turnover Scheme (ETS)

The Early Turnover Scheme (ETS) was introduced in April 2013 to encourage owners of older, more polluting diesel commercial vehicles and buses to switch to cleaner new vehicles. It provided a discount off the Prevailing Quota Premium (PQP) (LTA and NEA, Commercial Vehicle Emissions Scheme and Early Turnover Scheme Extended).

The ETS is no longer open. For light commercial vehicles (LCVs), the scheme ended after 31 March 2025: the last day to deregister an eligible LCV was 31 March 2025 and its replacement had to be registered by 30 April 2025. LCVs include light goods vehicles, goods-cum-passenger vehicles and small buses with maximum laden weight not exceeding 3,500 kg. For heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs), the scheme ended after 31 December 2025: the last day to deregister an eligible HCV was 31 December 2025 and its replacement had to be registered by 30 January 2026. HCVs include heavy goods vehicles, very heavy goods vehicles, goods-cum-passenger vehicles and buses with maximum laden weight exceeding 3,500 kg. From 1 January 2026, HVZES replaced the ETS for HCVs (OneMotoring, Early Turnover Scheme).

LTA’s final published ETS incentive quanta applied to replacement vehicles meeting Euro VI or equivalent. The discount was a percentage of PQP. For LCVs, the listed quanta applied from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2025; for HCVs, the unchanged quanta also applied during the extension from 1 April to 31 December 2025 (LTA and NEA, Commercial Vehicle Emissions Scheme and Early Turnover Scheme Extended, Annex C):

For the LCV rates, the same incentive applied if the replacement was an HCV without tailpipe emissions; replacing an existing LCV with an HCV that had tailpipe emissions did not qualify. For the HCV rates, the same incentive applied if the replacement was a Band A LCV under CVES for the no-tailpipe-emission rate, or a Band B LCV for the with-tailpipe-emission rate. In the annex, “tailpipe emissions” refers to HC, CO, NOₓ and PM (LTA and NEA, ETS incentive quanta, Annex C).

Heavy vehicles: HVZES

From 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2028, HVZES covers a new or imported used zero-tailpipe-emission heavy goods vehicle (including a goods-cum-passenger vehicle) or bus with a maximum laden weight above 3,500 kg. The incentive is paid in three tranches, and the vehicle must have paid ARF at registration and remain registered on the relevant anniversary dates to qualify for each tranche (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

For eligible vehicles registered from 1 January to 2 September 2026 under the earlier COE timing described by LTA, the total incentive is $40,000, paid as $13,000 on registration, $13,000 on the first registration anniversary, and $14,000 on the second. For eligible vehicles registered on or after 3 September 2026 with a COE from the first September 2026 bidding exercise onward, the total is $15,000 for a vehicle above 3,500 kg and up to 7,000 kg, and $40,000 above 7,000 kg; each amount is paid in three equal annual tranches (OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

Coverage debt

• This article gives the published 2026–2027 car and taxi VES thresholds and the 2025–2027 light-goods-vehicle CVES thresholds. It does not reproduce earlier registration-period thresholds or model-specific results from LTA’s live label and calculator tools; those results may vary by vehicle and can change. Check the current vehicle label or LTA’s live tools when comparing a particular model (OneMotoring, Fuel; OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure).

Sources

• OneMotoring, Vehicle Emission Schemes
• OneMotoring, Vehicle Tax Structure
• OneMotoring, Fuel
• LTA and NEA, Commercial Vehicle Emissions Scheme and Early Turnover Scheme Extended
• OneMotoring, Early Turnover Scheme
• LTA and NEA, ETS incentive quanta, Annex C