Singapore car ownership

Registration Fee (RF)

The Registration Fee (RF) is the flat administrative charge LTA collects to register a vehicle in Singapore, separate from the much larger Additional Registration Fee.

Watercolour illustration of a car key and pen resting on abstract registration paperwork on a quiet desk.

What it means

Watercolour illustration of a wooden rubber stamp beside a stack of blank paper forms.

The Registration Fee, usually shortened to RF, is a fixed charge the Land Transport Authority collects when a vehicle is first registered for use on Singapore roads. It is best thought of as the cost of the registration process itself: putting the car on LTA's records, assigning it a registration number, and issuing its log card. RF is a flat amount rather than a percentage of the car's value, which makes it one of the smaller items in the overall cost of putting a car on the road. People often confuse it with the Additional Registration Fee, or ARF, but the two are very different. ARF is a tax calculated as a percentage of the car's Open Market Value and is typically the single largest tax on a Singapore car. RF, by contrast, is a modest, fixed administrative fee. Both appear on a new car's bill, but they serve separate purposes.

Why it matters in Singapore

RF is part of the stack of charges that turn a car's base price into its on-the-road price, alongside excise duty, GST, ARF, and COE. On its own it is small, but it helps to know what each line on a registration bill is for. When a dealer or LTA breaks down the cost of a new car, RF is the piece that covers the act of registration, while the heavier numbers are the value-based taxes and the COE premium. Knowing the difference stops buyers from mixing up the trivial fee with the substantial one.

Watercolour illustration of a gleaming new dark blue saloon parked outside an HDB block in morning light. — The Registration Fee is a small flat administrative charge, separate from the far larger value based Additional Registration Fee.

What it means for car owners

For an owner, RF is a one-time cost paid at registration and folded into the price of a new car, so it rarely needs separate attention. The practical takeaway is to read a registration breakdown carefully and not assume RF and ARF are the same thing. If you are deregistering or transferring a car later, the rebates and refunds you may receive are tied to ARF and PARF, not to RF, since RF simply pays for the administrative act of registering.

← Back to glossary