SINGAPORE Law and Practice Contributed by: Sim Bock Eng, Josephine Choo, Aw Wen Ni and Vincent Ho, WongPartnership LLP
1.2 Exemptions There is no applicable information in this jurisdiction. 1.3 Income Tax Planning There is no applicable information in this jurisdiction. 1.4 Taxation of Real Estate Owned by Non- Residents There is no applicable information in this jurisdiction. 1.5 Stability of Tax Laws The estate and transfer tax laws have not seen any substantial variation or changes in the past ten years, remaining stable, transparent and consistent, except in the area relating to stamp duties for the trans - fer of residential real properties in Singapore. Most tax incentives have a sunset date and are generally reviewed every five years. Generally, any change in laws would not have a retroactive effect. This stability and transparency attract high net worth individuals to base their wealth and succession planning structures in Singapore. Stamp duties for the transfer of residential real proper - ties in Singapore have been revised on a few occa - sions over the past decade, as a cooling measure to deal with the increasing prices of residential proper - ties in Singapore. Under the most recent revision, on 4 July 2025, the rates for buyers’ stamp duties have remained at 5% for purchase prices or market values between SGD1.5 million and SGD3 million, and at 6% for any remaining amount above SGD3 million, while sellers’ stamp duties have generally increased by 4% for each category of holding period. Singapore imposes additional stamp duties (for the buyer and seller) on the transfer of residential prop - erties, which are differentiated based on whether the buyer is a Singaporean, a foreigner or an entity, whether the buyer is acquiring their first property, and the length of time for which the seller has owned the property. Additional buyer stamp duty (ABSD) for Singapore citizens who purchase their second residential prop - erty is 20%, and 30% for their third and subsequent residential properties. For Singapore permanent resi - dents, the ABSD is 30% for their second residential
property, and 35% for their third and subsequent resi - dential property. For purchases by foreigner individu - als and entities, the ABSD is 60% and 65% respec - tively. ABSD of 65% has also been imposed on any transfer of residential property into a living trust, where the transfer occurs on or after 9 May 2022, although the ABSD for this is refundable under certain condi - tions. There are free trade agreements between Singapore and countries such as the United States of Ameri - ca, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, which allow nationals of these countries (and also per - manent residents of Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) to be accorded the same stamp duty treatment as Singapore citizens. 1.6 Transparency and Increased Global Reporting Whilst it is possible to maintain the confidentiality of wealth and succession planning structures, Singa - pore supports the movement towards transparency to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and tax evasion. Singapore has amended its tax laws and implemented the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) reporting regimes. Singapore financial institutions are currently required to provide information pertaining to account holders from 88 jurisdictions under the CRS. Consistent with the practices of the OECD jurisdic - tions, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) also scrutinises related-party transactions with values not representative of the value of transactions that would otherwise have been entered into between unrelated parties. The IRAS has also introduced rules that require the submission of transfer pricing docu - mentation to support the basis for the value of trans - actions between related parties. Various tax offences under the ITA and Goods and Services Tax Act 1993 have also been designated as money laundering pred - icates for direct and indirect tax offences, respectively.
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