The ABSD liability will depend on the profile of the buyer as at the date of purchase or acquisition of the property: A. Whether the buyer is an individual or an entity B. The residency status of the buyer and C. The count of residential properties owned by the buyer
If a property is jointly purchased by buyers of different profiles, the profile with the highest ABSD rate will apply.
If A purchases a residential property to be held on trust for the beneficial owner B, ABSD is charged based on the profile of the beneficial owner, B.
If a buyer has applied for Singapore Citizenship or Singapore Permanent Residency, he must have obtained the formal approval from the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) for that residency status as at the date of purchase in order to enjoy lower ABSD liability.
If a Contract or an Agreement to purchase the property has been signed, that property is to be included in the count of properties owned by a buyer (A) from the date of acceptance of the agreement, even if it has not been legally transferred to him as he already has an equitable interest in the property.
This also includes the purchase of an uncompleted unit from the developer if the Sale & Purchase Agreement has been signed.
Similarly, the property is to be excluded from the count of properties owned by a buyer (A) if there is already a Contract or an Agreement to sell his property and the new buyer (B) has executed his option to buy the property.
As long as a buyer owns any share of interest in a property, that property will be included in the count of properties owned by him. For example, if a person jointly owns a property with his wife, and owns 20% share of another property with his sibling, the number of properties owned by him is counted as two properties.
If A purchases a residential property to be held in trust for the beneficial owner (B), the property will be included as a count for B.
Although many properties may be bought under a single contract, each property will be counted as a separate property. Where applicable, the buyer may choose any one of the multiple properties to be subject to ABSD. For example, if a Singapore Citizen who does not own any residential property decides to purchase two residential properties in one contract, he may choose any one of the units to be subject to ABSD.
In the case of a building with multiple units approved by URA but under a single title, ABSD will be based on the number of multiple units.
Apart from properties that have been purchased, properties acquired or transferred by way of gift, inheritance, release, settlement, declaration of trust (where the beneficial interest of the property passes to the beneficiary), letter of authority and exchange are to be included in the property count.
HDB shops with living quarters or shophouses with a portion permitted for residential use will be included as a residential property count.
All residential properties gazetted for compulsory acquisition are to be excluded from the count of properties.
All residential properties located outside Singapore are to be excluded.
1% on first $180,000
2% on next $180,000
3% for the remainder
1 Whether owned wholly, partially or jointly with others.
2 An Entity means a person who is not an individual. It includes the following:
3 BSD and ABSD are to be rounded down to the nearest dollar.
228KB, XLS
If you have contracted to sell your only apartment before you execute the Acceptance to the Option to Purchase for the terrace house, you do not need to pay ABSD.
But if you have not contracted to sell your apartment, your purchase of the terrace house will be your second property on which you need to pay ABSD at 7%.
As HDB’s rules require buyers to dispose of their private properties within 6 months from the completion date of HDB resale flats, ABSD remission will be given upfront to purchasers of HDB flats. You do not need to pay ABSD when you buy the flat.
The ABSD of 7% is payable as the terrace house will be your second property. However, if you dispose of your apartment within 6 months from the date of TOP/CSC (whichever is earlier) of the terrace house, you may be eligible for the refund of ABSD.
Ownership of a partial interest in a property will add to the count of property owned by you. Thus you would have owned two residential properties before you purchase the condominium unit. The purchase of the condominium unit with your son will be your third residential property. Hence you and your son would have to pay ABSD at 10% on the purchase price/value of the condominium unit even though this will be your son’s first residential property.
You would have owned one residential property before your mother transfers her share to you. However, the transfer of the 80% share of the same property to you would not add to the count of properties owned by you and hence you would not be subject to ABSD. BSD is still payable on the acquisition of 80% interest in the property. Your subsequent purchase of the private flat would be your second property which would attract the ABSD rate of 7%.
The matrimonial home will be your second property and therefore both of you will have to pay ABSD at 7% even though it will be your spouse’s first property. However, you may be eligible for the ABSD refund if you dispose of your interest in the house that is co-owned with your mother within 6 months from the date of purchase/TOP/CSC (whichever is applicable) of your matrimonial home.
You will not qualify for ABSD refund as the refund is only for purchase of second residential property by Singaporean married couples. You will need to dispose of your terrace house if you wish to avoid paying ABSD on your next purchase.
The purchase of the house will be your second property for both yourself and your spouse. As your spouse is a SPR, both of you will have to pay ABSD at 10% of the purchase price/ market value of the house. However, you may be eligible for the ABSD refund if you dispose of your first property within 6 months from the date of purchase/ TOP/ CSC (whichever is applicable) of your second property.
As HDB’s rules require buyers to dispose of their existing flats within 6 months from the possession of new HDB flats, ABSD remission will be given upfront. You do not need to pay ABSD when you buy the 5-room HDB flat.
The purchase of the house will be your second property for both yourself and your spouse. As your spouse is a SPR, both of you will have to pay ABSD at 10% of the purchase price/ market value of the house. However, you may be eligible for the ABSD refund for second residential property if you and your spouse dispose of the HDB flat within 6 months of the date of purchase/ TOP/ CSC (whichever is applicable) of your private flat.
SPRs are required to pay ABSD at 5% if they buy their first residential property on their own or jointly with SC. However, if both you and your SPR spouse do not own any property and the matrimonial home is the only residential property owned by you and your spouse, you are eligible for the ABSD remission for spouses.
If you are able to fulfil all the conditions for ABSD refund for purchase of second property, the ABSD of 15% paid will be refunded to you upon application.
From 12 Jan 2013, SPR buying their first residential property including HDB flat would have to pay ABSD at 5%.
As HDB’s rules require buyers to dispose of all their private properties within 6 months from the completion date of the HDB resale flats, the ABSD remission will be given upfront. You only need to pay ABSD at 5% instead of 10% when you buy the HDB flat.
You will be accorded the same treatment as a SC. You do not need to pay ABSD on your first property purchase. The ABSD rates of 7% and 10% will apply when you buy the second and additional residential properties respectively.
ABSD is payable only on the apportioned value of the living quarters. You may get a professional valuer to value the living quarters.
If the strata unit is permitted to be used as a shop, ABSD is not payable.
As the land is zoned ‘Residential’ and hence the development is capable of being developed or used for fully residential purposes, ABSD is payable.
ABSD is payable as this is a residential property and the use as a child care centre is only a temporary permitted use.
Only residential properties in Singapore are included in the property count which is used to determine ABSD liability. As this is your first residential property in Singapore, ABSD is not payable.
As the two residential units are physically separate units, they are counted as two units owned by you even though they do not have separate titles.
Properties gazetted for compulsory acquisition will be excluded from the count of properties. As such, your count of properties owned is zero and hence ABSD will not be payable on your purchase of the next residential property.
BSD and ABSD must be paid within 14 days from the date of the signed Contract or Agreement. Where the Contract or Agreement is executed (signed) overseas, BSD and ABSD must be paid within 30 days of the receipt of the Contract or Agreement in Singapore. A document is considered to be duly stamped only when stamp duty is fully paid. Audit checks will be conducted by IRAS to ensure that BSD and ABSD are duly paid. Under the Stamp Duties Act, a penalty of 4 times the amount of unpaid duty can be imposed.
tamp duty is an upfront cost that a buyer has to consciously set aside when he decides to purchase a property. It must be paid in full and cannot be deferred. Inadequate payment or late payment of stamp duty is tantamount to non-stamping.
Where BSD and ABSD are payable on the same document, you should pay both BSD and ABSD using the same form named Buyer’s Stamp Duty (and ABSD, if applicable) available at our e-Stamping website (https://estamping.iras.gov.sg) The form is located under the header of ‘Sale and Purchase / Transfer’.
Yes, it is an offence under Section 62 of Stamp Duties Act to evade stamp duty by executing a document where facts and circumstances are not fully and truly set forth. Any person guilty of such an offence shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.
The amount of direct cash discount may be deducted from the purchase price to determine what is the amount of consideration for stamp duty purpose. This is provided that the nett price is still reflective of the market value.
You are to disclose to IRAS the failed sale of your previous property and the circumstances of the aborted sale. Whether ABSD would be clawed back from you and what further action would be taken by IRAS would depend on the circumstances of the case. For information, the Commissioner of Stamp Duties may invoke the anti-avoidance provision under Section 33A of the Stamp Duties Act if there is reason to suspect that the sale of your previous property was fictitious and was schemed to avoid or reduce payment of ABSD.