How to renew road tax in Singapore- An ultimate guide.

If your vehicle’s road tax is up for renewal or soon to expire- one wonder’s what are the various convenient steps to renew road tax in Singapore. Renewing road tax before it expires is crucial in Singapore, as the fines for driving your vehicle without paying road tax is very high.

Where to pay road tax in Singapore

Road tax in Singapore can be renewed :
  1. Online at One Motoring’s website,
  2. AXS Station
  3. SingPost- Singapore’s post office or
  4. by pre arranged GIRO.

To know all the comprehensive details of road tax renewal in Singapore- please read on.

You can quickly jump to the appropriate sections if you are looking for specific information with the below Table of Contents.

Pre requisites -Before you renew road tax

Before you go ahead and renew your road tax- you need to have paid other stuffs and met some pre requisites. These are as below:

1. You must have paid all your traffic related fines.

You should have cleared all your parking and traffic fines before you renew your road tax. Find complete details of where to pay your traffic fines in Singapore here.

2. You must have passed a vehicle inspection at one of the authorised centres in Singapore.

All vehicles in Singapore go through mandatory vehicle inspection at these authorised centres to make sure they are roadworthy and safe. The frequency of vehicle inspections is based on the type and age of the vehicle. You can bring in your vehicle for inspection at any of the authorised centres either earlier or upon an inspection notice from LTA- Land Transport Authority of Singapore. The IU (In-vehicle Unit) should also be inspected by Authorised IU Service centre.

3. You must have number plate Inspection certificate for Off Peak cars.

Off Peak cars are cars with Red number plates in Singapore and are entitled to be driven during off peak hours or during peak hours with some extra fees. If you own an Off- Peak car, the number plate has to be inspected and a certificate to be issued by the inspection centre before you renew your road tax.

4. You must have a valid insurance

Land Transport Authority mandates the requirement of your vehicle insurance for the entire duration of your new road tax. The insurance company will issue you a Certificate of Motor Insurance or Cover note. If you still haven’t renewed your vehicle’s insurance yet- we recommend this guide to help you find various ways to save on your car or motorcycle insurance.

To summarise- you need the below before you renew your road tax.

  • Valid vehicle inspection certificate.
  • Valid number plate inspection certificate. (ONLY for off- peak vehicles)
  • Valid vehicle insurance certificate or cover note.
  • Clearance of all related fines
  • Optional- Road tax renewal notice/ SMS/ Electronic notice. (Please proceed to renew- if your vehicle is due inspection even if you don’t have a notice)
  • Vehicle parking certificate (only for heavy vehicles like buses)

How is road tax calculated in Singapore

Do you wonder, how much you have to pay for road tax renewal and how is it calculated ?

Your road tax is calculated based on various factors. Factors such as age of your vehicle, the capacity of your vehicle, your vehicle’s scheme, type of propellent used etc impacts your road tax.

Singapore is trying to keep the older vehicles off the roads as they end up with higher maintenance and pollute more to the environment.

If you vehicle is more than 10 years old- you’ll have an extra surcharge on your normal road tax. The surcharge starts from 10% and is capped to max of 50% extra surcharge. This means every year -your more than 10 year old vehicle will have an extra 10% increment on road tax up to 50% max.

On the other hand- a revised off peak car has a discount on the annual road tax as long as the minimum payment of 70 SGD is met. If you don’t know what a revised off peak car is – these are cars registered or converted into ROPC’s scheme on or after 25th of Jan 2010. For more details please see this guide about ROPCs at LTA here.

Where to check your road tax?

You can check your road tax renewal rate online at One Motoring’s website. Please visit the mentioned link to find out how much you have to pay. The online form takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete and you can know your renewal rate by entering engine and vehicle details.

Ways to pay for road tax renewal.

Before you proceed to renew your road tax, please note that you are required to meet the pre requisites at least 3 working days in advance before the payment.

1. Online at one-motoring website

You can pay for your road tax at one motoring online service here.

You’ll need a valid credit / debit card or an internet banking account for eNets debit with enough funds.

Please note the online payment service is only available from 06:00 AM in the morning to 12:00 midnight – Singapore time, daily.

Some of us wonder if we can make payment of road tax using credit cards for rebates. Well- most credit cards have clauses for awards and rebates. As far as we have researched- Credit card companies denies awards for payments to government institutions and instalment plan purchases.

2. Pay for road tax at AXS Station

You can also pay for your road tax at any of the island wide available AXS Station. Please note- the payment via AXS station is also available from 06:00 AM in the morning to 12:00 midnight- Singapore time, daily.

3. Renew your road tax at Post office- SingPost

One can also pay for the road tax renewal at any of the SingPost or road tax collection centres.
Before you proceed to the post office or road tax collection centres please make sure you have collected all the documents and certificates as mentioned in the pre requisites above in the this guide.

Cheque payment at SingPost are to be made payable to “Singapore Post Limited”. However, if you are issuing cheque payments at other Authorised Road Tax Collection Centres then it is to be made payable to ‘LTA’.

The list of Singapore post office branches can be found here.

4. How to pay for road tax renewal using GIRO

You can pay for your road tax renewal via GIRO and don’t have to worry about defaulting.

However, in order to pay using GIRO, you must signup and submit the application to Land Transport Authority at least 1 and a half month in prior to your renewal date or road tax expiry date.

To get started with GIRO for road tax renewal, please begin with this GIRO form available at One motoring.

In order for your GIRO payment to be successful, you’ll have to make sure to meet the pre-requisites by the date mentioned in your GIRO payment schedule. Please refer to the pre requisites mentioned at the beginning of this guide.

Changes to display of road tax discs on the windscreen

As per the new regulations- from 15th of February 2017, LTA or Land Transport Authority has advised of stopping issuance of the physical road tax discs that you paste on windscreen. Thus, since there is no more road tax discs issued you’ll only have a road tax payment notice with you.

By doing away with road tax discs, the government is relying on computerised systems to track your road tax renewal. LTA officers as well as car buyers can electronically check the validity of a vehicle’s current road tax payment.

Singapore road tax payment disc while driving overseas or Malaysia

Singapore now does not issue road tax disc. If its required while you are driving the vehicle overseas or neighbouring Malaysia, you’ll have a carry a self printed proof of your valid road tax.

To drive your vehicle without paying road tax is a punishable offence in courts of Singapore. If you are keeping an unlicensed vehicle you may face a fine of not exceeding SGD 2000.

About hundreds of thousands of motorists in Singapore renew their vehicle road tax each year, yet on an average ; close to six thousand summons are issued each year to motorists driving without a proper valid road tax.

Now that the steps and procedures are clear, we hope you’ll make sure to renew your road tax on time. Happy and safe driving my friends !