The Buyer’s Stamp Duty for residential properties priced above $1 million will be raised to 4.0 percent from 3.0 percent previously.
UPDATED: With effect from Tuesday (20 February), the top marginal Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) rate for residential properties priced above $1 million will be raised to 4.0 percent from 3.0 percent previously, revealed Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in his Budget 2018 speech yesterday afternoon.
“The new top marginal rates of 4.0 percent will apply to the portion of residential property value which is in excess of $1 million,” said Mr Heng.
“With 80 percent of private property transactions below $1.5 million, those that buy within the $1 million to $1.5 million bracket are paying $5,000 more in taxes,” said Eugene Lim, key executive officer at ERA Realty, adding that it’s a very marginal sum for the majority of buyers.
“As the majority are not paying significantly more tax, we do not expect the current buying momentum in the private property market to be adversely affected,” he noted.
Since 1996, BSD rates for residential properties have ranged between 1.0 and 3.0 percent.
The BSD rates for non-residential properties will remain unchanged at 1.0 to 3.0 percent, noted Mr Heng.
“Moving forward, we will continue to study options to ensure that our tax system remains progressive,” he added.
Source: Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
