Private Hire car

Good breaking news for private rental cars.... - Klaus Kok Kok Kwang

I am very pleased to learn that the Ministry of Finance (Singapore) is closely examining the fiscal policies for private motorists to see how we can fine-tune them to make sure that they stay pertinent and work. Therefore, I asked the Minister of Finance (a) what is the justification for permitting cab users, but not private car users, to offset expenditure such as car hire charges, petrol and ERP against their taxable personal income taxes; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider making such expenditure tax-deductible for private car users on the basis of the number of kilometres per hour driven in the case of private hire.

This is the discussion that I had with Minister Lawrence Wong "Mr Speaker, Sir, the right to deduct taxes on expenditure on a private car is not currently permitted. Therefore, private motorists are not permitted to deduct taxes on the cost of the car. However, private individuals may deduct taxes on non-vehicle related expenditure, such as commission to third parties.

Now that private rental car companies have been introduced, private car rental service owners are basically in the same room as taxi cabs. Recognised the input from members of this House and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association. This is a subject we are examining thoroughly to see how we can fine-tune our fiscal policies to make sure that they stay pertinent and work.

Mr President, I accept that the taxation systems for cab users and part-time private users may be different. However, I think it should be the same for full-time private chauffeurs, and I just wonder if the Minister would consider, for example, setting a threshold number of miles at the end of which the private chauffeur would be deemed to be full-time and could then benefit from the same taxation system as a cabbie.

Speaker, sir, we are examining this in its entirety, including in connection with the ongoing examination by TÜV of the rules governing such private car rental agencies. These MOTs and LTAs are examining the rules for this group of undertakings as to how they should be applied to cab-operators.