In his Budget 2023 speech, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said that cars with an OMV (the approximate cost of a car before taxes) higher than $80,000 will incur an additional registration fee (ARF, or the main car tax) of 320 percent from 220%.

Will it stop the rich in their tracks? Or will such cars be even more exclusive now that they are more expensive to buy? We speak to Dr. Walter Theseira, Associate Professor, Economics, Singapore University of Social Sciences to get his insights on the subject.