Stamp Duties Explained: BSD, ABSD & SSD (Singapore, 2026)

Three different stamp duties apply to property in Singapore — two on the buyer (BSD, ABSD) and one on the seller (SSD). The exam tests whether you can identify *who pays, on what type of property, and how much* for a given profile. All are charged on the higher of the purchase price or the market value. Rates are government policy levers — the figures below are current as at 2025–2026; always confirm with IRAS.

1. Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD)

Paid by every buyer on almost every property purchase — residential *and* non-residential. It is tiered by price. Residential tiers:

Non-residential property (commercial and industrial) runs on a shorter ladder that stops at 5%. Note what this really means: the two ladders are identical all the way up to $3m — the *only* difference is that residential adds a 6% band above $3m, which non-residential does not have.

So on a $2m purchase the BSD is the same $69,600 whether the unit is a condo or a shop — the tiers have not diverged yet. Take the same two properties to $4m and they split: $179,600 residential against $169,600 non-residential, the $10,000 gap being the extra 1% on the $1m sitting above $3m. The practical exam point is that on non-residential property the ABSD (residential only) is what changes the answer — not the BSD.

2. Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD)

Paid by the buyer, on residential property only, on top of BSD. The rate depends on buyer profile (citizenship/entity) and how many residential properties the buyer already owns. This is the most-tested table in Paper 2:

• SC vs PR — the headline difference: an SC pays nothing on their first home; a PR pays 5% even on their first. On a second property the gap widens (SC 20% vs PR 30%).
• 2nd vs 3rd: the jump is real — SC 20% → 30%, PR 30% → 35%. Count *existing* residential properties to place the buyer in the right column.
• Foreigners pay a flat 60% regardless of count (some nationals of countries with Free Trade Agreements — e.g. USA, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland — may be accorded the SC rate under the FTA).
• ABSD remission for a married couple: a married couple buying a second residential property jointly, where at least one spouse is a Singapore Citizen (it does not have to be SC+SC), still pays the ABSD upfront and is refunded it if they sell their first residential property within 6 months — counted from the date of purchase of the second property where that property is already completed, or from TOP or CSC (whichever is earlier) where it was uncompleted. The refund must then be applied for within 6 months of that sale. Entities and trustees have no equivalent relief — they pay the top rate. (Confirm the current conditions with IRAS.)

3. Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD)

Paid by the seller on residential property sold within the holding period, regardless of profit. The holding period was extended from 3 to 4 years (with each rate raised by 4 percentage points) for residential property acquired on or after 4 Jul 2025 — it is the purchase date that decides which regime applies, not the sale date:

Does SSD hit an HDB flat? There is no blanket HDB exemption — SSD is charged on *residential property*, and a flat is residential property. What saves almost every flat owner is arithmetic, not exemption: the MOP is 5 years and the flat cannot lawfully be sold before it, while the SSD window closes at 4 years (3 years under the old regime). So a flat sold *after* MOP is always outside the SSD window. The exception is a flat acquired other than by an ordinary purchase — inherited, or taken over on a divorce or family transfer — and then sold within the holding period, because the SSD clock runs from the date of acquisition, not from the original purchase.

IRAS also exempts a set of involuntary or policy-forced disposals. The recurring ones:

• The seller is an individual adjudged bankrupt and must dispose of the property as a result.
• A company disposing on an involuntary winding up.
• A foreigner required to sell under the Residential Property Act.
• The property is taken by government acquisition, or the flat is returned to HDB on repossession or under SERS (and a SERS-identified flat sold on the open market before HDB takes it).
• An owner who inherits a flat and is required by HDB's rules to dispose of the inherited or the existing flat, and marriage-related HDB disposals where HDB requires the couple to give up one flat.
• Sales by licensed housing developers and by public authorities (e.g. HDB, JTC).

Two things follow for advice. A client who says *"it's an HDB flat, so there's no SSD"* has the right answer for the wrong reason — say MOP, not exemption. And an exemption is never assumed: the list above is IRAS's, and the current terms must be confirmed with IRAS before you tell a seller their sale is duty-free.

When it must be paid — and the penalty for being late

Rates are only half the answer; the exam also tests timing. Stamp duty is payable within 14 days after the date of the document where it is signed in Singapore, or within 30 days of the document being received in Singapore if it was signed overseas. On a resale purchase the clock therefore starts when the buyer exercises the OTP — not at completion weeks later. In practice the buyer's lawyer e-stamps the document with IRAS and pays the duty out of the buyer's funds.

There is a second sting. A document that is not duly stamped is inadmissible in evidence in court — so an unstamped contract cannot be relied on in a dispute until it has been stamped and any penalty paid.

Residential vs commercial vs industrial

Which duty applies depends heavily on property type — a favourite exam distinction:

Worked example

A Singapore PR buys their 2nd residential property at $1,200,000. BSD (tiered) ≈ $32,600. ABSD = PR 2nd = 30% × $1.2M = $360,000. Total upfront duties ≈ $392,600 — and the ABSD dwarfs the BSD. (An SC buying their *first* home at the same price would pay the $32,600 BSD and $0 ABSD.) It shows how profile + count drive the bill.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting ABSD is on top of BSD (not instead of it).
• Computing on the price when the higher of price or valuation applies.
• Putting SSD on the buyer — it's the seller's.
• Charging ABSD on commercial/industrial — it's residential only.
• Assuming duty is paid at completion — it is due 14 days after the document is signed (so from exercise of the OTP), or 30 days from receipt in Singapore if signed overseas.

Edge cases & 'what-ifs'

Decoupling: co-owners sometimes restructure (one buys out the other) so a future purchase counts as a 'first property' and escapes higher ABSD — but the buy-out itself attracts BSD (and possibly ABSD), so the maths must be worked through.