Updated 25 Sep 2026. “You can claim back the stamp duty” is too vague to use in a home-buying budget. Singapore has several property stamp-duty remission schemes. They cover different duties, buyers and transactions, and some require the tax to be paid before a refund can be considered.
Start by identifying the exact scheme that fits the transaction. Then confirm its conditions and cash timing before you exercise an Option to Purchase. This page is a route map for individual homebuyers, not a full eligibility determination for every remission or a guide to property-development and company restructuring reliefs.
First, name the duty being relieved
Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD), Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) and Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) are separate taxes. IRAS’s remissions and reliefs directory identifies which duties each scheme covers.
For example, the married-couple and Free Trade Agreement routes shown in that directory concern ABSD. Do not read “full ABSD remission” as “no stamp duty”. The directory also distinguishes new executive condominium units from resale EC units for the HDB/new-EC acquisition route. Check the actual property and transaction category, not just the word “EC” in a listing.
Buying a first joint home with a non-citizen spouse
Under the married-couple remission conditions, a first joint purchase can qualify for full ABSD remission where the couple includes a Singapore citizen, neither spouse owns a residential property and the purchase is in both spouses’ names only. A foreign spouse is not automatically excluded.
Where the conditions are met, IRAS permits application for this remission instead of paying ABSD. This differs from the replacement-home refund route. Read our first joint-home remission guide before deciding the required tax funding.
Replacing a home as a married couple
The replacement-home route involves ABSD paid first, followed by a refund if all conditions are met. It includes separate deadlines for selling the first property and claiming the refund. For a completed replacement home, do not automatically calculate the sale period from legal completion. IRAS identifies purchase and disposal dates by the applicable transaction document, including acceptance of the Option to Purchase.
For an uncompleted replacement, the relevant sale clock uses the earlier issue of the Temporary Occupation Permit or Certificate of Statutory Completion. See the replacement-home refund guide for the full conditions, deadlines and automatic-refund qualification. Plan an alternative if the old home cannot be sold within the required period.
A separate route for single citizen seniors
It is incorrect to say that every single buyer is excluded from replacement-home ABSD relief. IRAS has an ABSD concession for single Singapore citizen seniors for qualifying second residential-property purchases on or after 16 February 2024.
The scheme is for single citizens aged 55 or above and operates by refund after ABSD payment. It has detailed conditions on ownership, eligible immediate-family co-owners, subsequent acquisitions, disposal and application deadlines, and unchanged ownership of the replacement home. The replacement must also have a lower value than each first property sold, using the scheme’s higher-of-price-or-market-value test.
A smaller floor area does not by itself meet that value condition. Nor does being aged 55 make an otherwise ineligible joint purchase qualify. Use the official checklist for every owner and property, and ask your lawyer to record the applicable dates and evidence.
Qualifying foreigners under Free Trade Agreements
The FTA remission route gives the same stamp-duty treatment as Singapore citizens to nationals and permanent residents of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, and to nationals of the United States of America.
US permanent residence alone is not in that list. Equal treatment also does not mean every qualifying purchaser pays no ABSD: the applicable Singapore-citizen treatment still depends on the transaction. IRAS provides a remission-certificate route through stamping on myTax Portal and separate instructions where a trust instrument is involved.
Check this route using actual nationality or permanent-residence evidence. A country of employment, overseas mailing address or tax residence is not a substitute for the status specified by the scheme.
Put the cash and evidence beside each condition
| Question | Record before committing |
|---|---|
| Who is buying? | Every buyer’s citizenship, marital status, age where relevant, and existing property interests. |
| What qualifies? | The exact scheme, property type, ownership structure and conditions that must remain satisfied. |
| What must be funded? | Duty due upfront, any eligible upfront remission, and the cash needed while awaiting a refund. |
| Which dates control? | Relevant contract, TOP or CSC dates, disposal deadline and separate application deadline. |
| What proves completion? | Stamped documents, certificates, supporting evidence and the actual refund or remission record. |
A useful household stress test is to write two budgets: one if the expected remission succeeds and one if it does not. If the second budget would force an unaffordable loan or rushed sale, resolve the eligibility question before buying. An agent’s expectation of a quick sale is not the same as a completed disposal that satisfies the scheme.
Also distinguish an application from an outcome. Keep the stamp certificate, application acknowledgement and correspondence, then verify the remission or refund actually granted. If a key fact changes, such as a proposed additional owner, revisit the analysis instead of reusing a calculation prepared for a different purchase.
Sources checked 25 September 2026: IRAS’s property-remission directory and its married-couple, single-citizen-senior and FTA guidance, linked above. This article identifies routes and key distinctions; use each scheme’s complete conditions and obtain advice for your transaction. Historical temporary extensions are not presented as relief for a new 2026 purchase.
Featured photograph: Marina Bay’s Central Business District, photographed in August 2023. Photo: Bijay Chaurasia Photography, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Archive image resized for the website; it is an illustrative Singapore city view.
