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Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/forum/forum-windfall-gains-from-selling-flats-should-be-taxed The Straits Times' associate editor Chua Mui Hoong wrote an excellent piece on returning the Housing Board to its original mandate (Returning HDB to its roots of building homes, not short-term assets, June 25). It resonates with the letter I wrote to the Forum in December suggesting that focus be placed on the resale market to address the lottery conundrum in public housing (Focus on resale market to address public housing issues, Dec 21, 2020), as well as the opinions of many other writers on how to address this inequitable phenomenon. As Ms Chua aptly pointed out, windfall gains that go to those who could afford high-priced Build-To-Order flats in the first place defeat the purpose of subsidised public housing. It is therefore pertinent that taxes of some sort be levied on such capital gains. Ms Chua's suggestion of treating such gains (on the sale of all subsidised HDB flats in all locations) as income is a brilliant idea, as this mechanism promises to give precisely the equitable effect that is sought. In the same way that the additional buyer's stamp duty and other property cooling measures were rolled out fairly quickly in various stages, is it not possible to tackle this facet of the lottery effect while the authorities continue to seek and digest public feedback on a new/enhanced public housing model? It is quite unbelievable that the number of HDB resale flats costing more than $1 million has been on the rise, with 87 sold in the first five months of this year.

quoted from https://www.mof.gov.sg/Newsroom/Parliamentary-Replies/Singapore-Road-Tax-Structure 1. Road Tax - which are based on engine capacity - are higher for, bigger cars, which tend to consume more fuel and produce more emissions than small cars quoted from https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/owning-a-vehicle/costs-of-owning-a-vehicle/tax-structure-for-cars.html 2. VES - The VES takes into consideration a vehicle’s emissions of four other pollutants, namely hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOX) and particulate matter (PM), in addition to the vehicle’s carbon dioxide emission, to encourage consumers to shift to less pollutive models. Cars registered from 1 January 2018 to 30 June 2018 (both dates inclusive) will be assessed based on their emissions of four pollutants of HC, CO, NOX and CO2 (i.e. PM emissions is exempted during this interim period). Cars1 registered from 1 July 2018 to 31 December 2019 (both dates inclusive) will be assessed based on their emissions of five pollutants of HC, CO, NOx, PM and CO2. The VES rebate or surcharge will be determined by the worst performing pollutant. Aren't both taxes the same since both are taxed the emission from the car.