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Reimbursement of stamp duty is not wrong, according to property consultants assessing Far East Organization’s latest promotion.
To counter the effects of the additional stamp duty that took effect in early December, the developer has introduced some marketing promotion strategies. They include offering customers furniture vouchers as well as ‘reimbursement’ of their stamp duty.
Nevertheless, some buyers have questioned the legality of such tactics. In a letter to the Straits Times Forum page, reader Samuel Tan said it was “a blatant attempt by the property developer to dilute the effect of the cooling measure”.
It is understood that the Far East promotion intends to offer a price discount rather than a total reimbursement of the stamp duty. As such, it is not supposed to offset the additional stamp duty charged to some buyers.
“If developers give an outright discount of five percent, people will think the government measures are working,” said Png Poh Soon, Head of Research at Knight Frank.
“But buyers will also be thinking of the additional stamp duties they will have to pay. So in a way, it also helps developers show that they are addressing the needs of their buyers,” he noted.
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Reader Comments: (4 comments)
what's wrong with these people complaining, and complaining when buyers of WaterTown are happy with Far East promotion ... Developers and Buyers are happy in this win-win situation, and discount given in a transparent manner.
Marketing gimmicks
Prices move up, people complain. Prices lower (because of promo), people complain.
I can tell that that person who wrote in to the ST forum likely is not one of the Watertown buyers and maybe he bought a nearby project and did not enjoy the SD reimbursement.