Remission of Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty for Property Buyers who are Singles

Parliamentary Question by Mr Darryl David:

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether Singaporean singles who are buying a second private property to stay in can also qualify for a remission of the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty that is available for Singaporean married couples, if they sell their first property within six months of acquiring their second property.

Parliamentary Reply by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Lawrence Wong:

The policy intent of the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) is to moderate demand for residential properties and ensure a stable and sustainable residential property market.

For Singaporeans, ABSD is applicable on the purchase of a second and subsequent residential property. This applies regardless of whether they dispose of their first property subsequently. This is because even if the first property is eventually disposed of, the purchase of the second property adds to the demand for residential properties at the time of purchase.

An exception was made for Singaporean married couples buying a replacement private property, if they meet certain conditions. Under this concession, ABSD paid can be refunded provided that the first property is sold within six months after the purchase of a completed property, or the Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) or Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC) date of an uncompleted property.

This ABSD refund is not available to other groups of property buyers. The Government will continue to review our policies to ensure their relevance to market conditions.