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Parliamentary Replies

Exemption from Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty for Second Property Bought on One-for-One Exchange

08 Apr 2016

Parliamentary Question by Ms Cheng Li Hui:

To ask the Minister for Finance whether the Ministry will allow buyers who own more than one property to be exempted from the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty if they buy another property as a one-for-one exchange.

Reply by Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat:


The objective of ABSD is to moderate demand for residential properties and promote a stable and sustainable property market. As such, we have imposed ABSD on foreigners’ and Singapore Permanent Residents’ residential property purchase, and a Singapore Citizen’s second and subsequent residential property purchase. Therefore, a Singapore Citizen who owns two residential properties and sells one of them to purchase another residential property will be required to pay ABSD on the new purchase.