The Straits Times
Published on Feb 19, 2013

Raise property, road taxes for non-Singaporeans


DESPITE several rounds of cooling measures, property prices still continue to rise.

As there are many rich people and well-paid foreign talent in Singapore, these measures will not deter them from buying properties.

The Government should come up with more measures to rein in high property and certificate of entitlement prices.

One option is to impose higher property taxes, and vary the amount paid by Singaporeans, permanent residents and non-PR foreigners. For instance, the PR should pay three times the tax paid by a Singaporean, and the non-PR foreigner should pay five times the amount.

This concept of varying taxes for different groups of people should also apply to road tax.

There are many PRs in Singapore who share almost the same benefits as Singaporeans, and they have chosen to stay as PRs for years because they plan to move back to their home countries as a "back-up" plan.

Imposing higher taxes on non-Singaporeans will be timely and help to lower our cost of living.

Yew Siew Weng