Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for Foreigners: Common Mistakes and Rejection Reasons

Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty for foreigners buying Singapore residential property is charged at a flat 60% of the purchase price or market value, on top of ordinary Buyer’s Stamp Duty, and most costly mistakes are not about the rate itself but about remissions, deadlines and joint-buyer profiles that buyers assume work in their favour when they do not. This guide sets out the current rates, the narrow remission routes that exist, and the errors that most often catch foreign and PR buyers out.

Raffles Corporate Services works with a panel of corporate and employment law firms; this article is general information, not legal advice, and every computation should be checked against the buyer’s actual profile before an Option to Purchase is exercised.

What ABSD is and who it applies to

ABSD is charged under the Stamp Duties Act 1929 on top of Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD), and the rate depends on the buyer’s profile at the date of the Option to Purchase or Sale and Purchase Agreement, not at completion. Where a property is bought jointly by buyers of different profiles, the highest applicable rate applies to the entire purchase, so a Singapore citizen buying jointly with a foreign spouse pays ABSD at the foreigner’s rate on the whole transaction, not a blended rate.

Current ABSD rates (in force since 27 April 2023)

• Singapore Citizen: 0% on a first residential property, 20% on a second, 30% on a third and beyond.
• Singapore Permanent Resident: 5% on a first residential property, 30% on a second, 35% on a third and beyond.
• Foreigner (non-PR): 60% on any residential property, first purchase or not.
• Entity (company or trust): 65% on any residential property, plus, for developers, an additional non-remittable component in some cases.

Nationals and Permanent Residents of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, and nationals of the United States of America, are accorded the same stamp duty treatment as a Singapore Citizen under Singapore’s Free Trade Agreements, so they pay ABSD on the citizen scale rather than the 60% foreigner rate, provided they meet the FTA’s nationality (not merely residency) requirement.

Worked computation examples

A foreigner buying a S$1,800,000 condominium pays BSD of roughly S$54,600 (on the progressive 1% to 6% scale) plus ABSD of S$1,080,000 (60% of S$1,800,000), a combined stamp duty bill of about S$1,134,600, due within 14 days of exercising the option. A Singapore PR buying the same unit as a first property pays ABSD of S$90,000 (5%) instead, plus the same BSD, for a combined bill of roughly S$144,600. A US national buying the same unit as their first Singapore property, and relying on the FTA remission, pays 0% ABSD (the citizen first-property rate) plus BSD only, provided the FTA nationality condition is satisfied and the remission is correctly claimed at the point of stamping.

Remissions that actually exist

Two remission routes are genuinely available and are not simply myths repeated online: the FTA remission described above for nationals of the five listed jurisdictions, and the Married Couples Remission, under which a Singapore Citizen married to a foreigner or PR can, in narrow circumstances, obtain a refund of the higher ABSD paid on a first matrimonial home if any co-owned prior property is sold within the required period. Both remissions must be applied for; ABSD is not automatically charged at the lower rate at the point of stamping just because a buyer believes they qualify, and supporting documents (marriage certificate, passport, prior property sale records) must be filed with IRAS.

Common mistakes and rejection reasons

1. Assuming PR status alone gets the citizen rate

A Singapore PR still pays ABSD, just at a lower rate than a foreigner (5%/30%/35% rather than 60% flat); PRs are not treated as citizens for ABSD purposes, and applications that proceed on this assumption are corrected, at cost, when IRAS assesses the stamp certificate.

2. Missing the FTA nationality test

The FTA remission depends on nationality, not on residency or a long-term pass; a foreigner who has lived in Singapore for years under an FTA-country employer, but does not hold that country’s nationality, does not qualify, and this is one of the most common reasons a claimed remission is refused on review.

3. Structuring joint ownership without checking the highest-rate rule

Buyers sometimes add a foreign co-investor to a purchase to “share the ABSD,” not realising the entire purchase is taxed at the higher of the two buyers’ rates; this typically increases, rather than reduces, the total duty payable compared to the citizen or PR buying alone.

4. Treating the Married Couples Remission as automatic

The remission requires an application, supporting documents, and, in most qualifying scenarios, a firm commitment or completed sale of an existing property within the stipulated period; couples who assume the lower rate applies at the point of purchase, without filing for remission, still see the higher rate charged and must then apply for a refund, with its own deadline.

5. Missing the 14-day payment deadline

ABSD and BSD are both due within 14 days of exercising the Option to Purchase (or the Sale and Purchase Agreement, whichever applies), and late payment attracts penalties of up to 4 times the duty outstanding; foreign buyers moving funds across borders should start the transfer well before exercising the option, since international wire delays are a recurring, entirely avoidable cause of late payment penalties.

How ABSD interacts with the property type

ABSD applies to residential property only; commercial and industrial property in Singapore carries no ABSD regardless of the buyer’s nationality, which is why some foreign investors who are priced out of residential property by the 60% rate look instead at shophouses zoned commercial, or mixed-use developments where the residential component is the only part subject to ABSD. A foreigner buying a purely commercial unit still pays BSD, but not ABSD, and this distinction is one of the more common points of confusion for buyers comparing listings across property types without checking the zoning first.

Selling before buying: the temporary relief that does not exist

Unlike some jurisdictions, Singapore does not offer a foreigner or PR a temporary ABSD exemption for “selling an existing home and buying a replacement,” except within the narrow Married Couples Remission described above. A PR or foreigner who sells an existing Singapore property and buys a new one is still assessed on the number of properties owned at the point of the new purchase’s option date; if the sale has not yet completed, the new purchase can be treated as a second property for ABSD purposes even though the seller intends to hold only one property once both transactions settle. Sequencing completion dates correctly, with a conveyancing lawyer coordinating both transactions, avoids an ABSD bill calculated on the wrong property count.

Timing the purchase against a change in PR or citizenship status

Because the buyer’s profile is fixed at the date of the Option to Purchase or Sale and Purchase Agreement, a foreigner who is close to being granted PR status, or a PR close to being granted citizenship, sometimes benefits materially from waiting for the status change to be confirmed before signing. The reverse also holds: exercising an option the day before a PR approval comes through locks in the higher foreigner rate even though approval was imminent, and ABSD already paid at the higher rate is not refunded merely because status changed shortly afterwards. Buyers in this position should get written confirmation of their new status before, not after, committing to a purchase.

Refund and appeal routes

Where ABSD has been overpaid, for example because a remission was not claimed at the point of stamping, an application for refund can be made to IRAS with the supporting documents for the remission in question, generally within the statutory time limit for stamp duty refund claims. There is no general discretionary waiver of ABSD outside the FTA and Married Couples routes; claims made on the basis of hardship, exchange rate movements, or a buyer’s mistaken belief about their own eligibility are not remission grounds recognised by IRAS.

Frequently asked questions

What is the current ABSD rate for a foreigner buying Singapore property?
60% of the purchase price or market value, whichever is higher, on any residential property, whether it is the buyer’s first purchase or not.

Do US citizens get a lower ABSD rate?
Yes, under the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, US nationals are accorded the same stamp duty treatment as Singapore Citizens, so they pay ABSD on the citizen scale rather than 60%, subject to meeting the nationality requirement.

Does marrying a Singapore citizen remove ABSD for a foreign spouse?
Not automatically; the Married Couples Remission can refund the higher rate paid on a first matrimonial home in qualifying circumstances, but it must be applied for and is conditioned on disposing of any existing co-owned property within the required period.

Is ABSD charged on the purchase price or the market value?
Whichever is higher, so a buyer purchasing below market value still pays ABSD calculated on the assessed market value.

Can ABSD be paid in instalments?
No, the full amount is due within 14 days of the relevant document being executed; there is no standard instalment scheme, so buyers should have funds ready before exercising an option.

Related guides

For the documents typically required to support an ABSD or remission claim, see Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for foreigners: Documents required and templates, and for the eligibility rules on what a foreigner or PR can buy in the first place, see Buying Property in Singapore as a Foreigner/PR: Common Mistakes and Rejection Reasons. On stamp duty for tenancy agreements rather than a purchase, see Stamping Tenancy Agreements in Singapore (2026): Rates, e-Stamping and Other Dutiable Documents. For the banking side of settling a large stamp duty payment, see Singapore bank account opening: DBS, OCBC, UOB, Wise, Aspire: Frequently asked questions. For official guidance, consult the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority on residency status, the Housing and Development Board on public housing eligibility, and the Land Transport Authority for commute planning around a purchase location.

Need help with this? Call, SMS or WhatsApp +65 8501 7133, or email [email protected]. Little Big Employment Agency (EA Licence 19C9790) works with a panel of corporate and employment law firms; this article is general information, not legal advice.