What renting out your home does to your property tax
The rate you pay is not the rate you were paying. There is also a 15-day deadline attached to telling IRAS, and a $5,000 fine for missing it.
Work out the rent, subtract the mortgage, and the arithmetic looks fine. The number most people leave out of that sum is the one that changes the day the tenant moves in.
The rate changes, not just the amount
Singapore taxes residential property on its annual value, and it applies two different scales depending on whether you live there. An owner-occupied home pays nothing on the first $12,000 of annual value. A property you have let is on the other scale from the first dollar.
A let residential property is taxed at non-owner-occupier rates, starting at 12% on the first $30,000 of annual value and rising to 36%.
“Non-Owner-Occupier Residential Tax Rates (Effective 1 Jan 2024): First $30,000 — 12%; Next $15,000 — 20%; Next $15,000 — 28%; Above $60,000 — 36%.”
So the exemption on the first $12,000 disappears and 12% starts immediately. That is a change in category rather than a percentage adjustment, and it is the part that tends to be missing from a back-of-envelope calculation.
HDB flags the same change from its own side HDB.
The 15-day deadline
This one has a penalty attached and almost no public profile.
An owner who stops occupying their property must tell IRAS within 15 days. Not doing so carries a fine of up to $5,000.
“Property owners paying the owner-occupier tax rates must notify IRAS within 15 days from the date they cease to occupy the property. The penalty for non-compliance of the above obligation is a fine of up to $5,000 and an interest on the tax at such rate as may be prescribed (if any).”
Fifteen days from ceasing to occupy — not from the tenancy starting, not from your tax return. It is done through myTax Portal.
Then the rent is taxed as income
Rent is taxable income, and it is taxed from the date it falls due rather than the date it is received.
“Any rent payments you receive when you rent out your property are subject to income tax and must be declared in your Income Tax Return. The net rental income after deduction of any allowable expenses is subject to income tax. It is taxable from the date it is due and payable to the property owner, and not the date of actual receipt.”
The timing rule in that last sentence catches people whose tenant pays late: the tax follows the date the rent was due, not the date it arrived.
You can deduct expenses, and there is a route that avoids keeping every receipt.
Instead of itemising, a landlord may claim deemed rental expenses of 15% of gross rent, plus mortgage interest.
“To simplify tax-filing and reduce the burden of record-keeping, an amount of deemed rental expenses calculated based on 15% of the gross rent will be pre-filled in the online tax form. In addition to the 15% deemed rental expenses, property owners may still claim mortgage interest on the loan taken to purchase the tenanted property.”
And the agreement is stampable
Stamp duty on a lease of four years or less is 0.4% of the total rent. Average annual rent of $1,000 or less is exempt.
“AAR does not exceed $1,000: Exempted. AAR exceeds $1,000, Lease period of 4 years or less: 0.4% of total rent for the period of the lease. Lease duty is rounded down to the nearest dollar, subject to a minimum duty of $1.”
A document should be stamped before signing; there is no penalty within 14 days of signing in Singapore, or 30 days if signed overseas.
“You are required to stamp a document before you sign it. However, if you have signed a document and stamped it within the following time frame, no penalty will be charged: Within 14 days after signing the document if it is signed in Singapore or Within 30 days after receiving the document in Singapore if the document is signed overseas.”
Who pays is decided by the agreement, and there is a default where it is silent IRAS.
The agreement decides who pays. Where it is silent, the Stamp Duties Act's default for a tenancy agreement is the tenant.
“Check the terms of the document (e.g. tenancy agreement) to determine who is contractually required to pay the stamp duty. When the terms do not state who is liable, the party to pay stamp duty will follow that as specified in the Third Schedule of the Stamp Duties Act.”
This page describes published tax rules and links to IRAS for each one. It is not tax advice, and your own position may turn on facts this page knows nothing about.
Sources
Every rule on this page is quoted from the authority that made it, with the date we last opened the page and confirmed the wording. Where an authority publishes no update date of its own, that is said rather than filled in.
A let residential property is taxed at non-owner-occupier rates, starting at 12% on the first $30,000 of annual value and rising to 36%.
“Non-Owner-Occupier Residential Tax Rates (Effective 1 Jan 2024): First $30,000 — 12%; Next $15,000 — 20%; Next $15,000 — 28%; Above $60,000 — 36%.”
Property tax is revised when the flat is rented out.
“The property tax will be revised when you rent out your flat. You can get more information from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).”
An owner who stops occupying their property must tell IRAS within 15 days. Not doing so carries a fine of up to $5,000.
“Property owners paying the owner-occupier tax rates must notify IRAS within 15 days from the date they cease to occupy the property. The penalty for non-compliance of the above obligation is a fine of up to $5,000 and an interest on the tax at such rate as may be prescribed (if any).”
Rent is taxable income, and it is taxed from the date it falls due rather than the date it is received.
“Any rent payments you receive when you rent out your property are subject to income tax and must be declared in your Income Tax Return. The net rental income after deduction of any allowable expenses is subject to income tax. It is taxable from the date it is due and payable to the property owner, and not the date of actual receipt.”
Instead of itemising, a landlord may claim deemed rental expenses of 15% of gross rent, plus mortgage interest.
“To simplify tax-filing and reduce the burden of record-keeping, an amount of deemed rental expenses calculated based on 15% of the gross rent will be pre-filled in the online tax form. In addition to the 15% deemed rental expenses, property owners may still claim mortgage interest on the loan taken to purchase the tenanted property.”
Stamp duty on a lease of four years or less is 0.4% of the total rent. Average annual rent of $1,000 or less is exempt.
“AAR does not exceed $1,000: Exempted. AAR exceeds $1,000, Lease period of 4 years or less: 0.4% of total rent for the period of the lease. Lease duty is rounded down to the nearest dollar, subject to a minimum duty of $1.”
A document should be stamped before signing; there is no penalty within 14 days of signing in Singapore, or 30 days if signed overseas.
“You are required to stamp a document before you sign it. However, if you have signed a document and stamped it within the following time frame, no penalty will be charged: Within 14 days after signing the document if it is signed in Singapore or Within 30 days after receiving the document in Singapore if the document is signed overseas.”
The agreement decides who pays. Where it is silent, the Stamp Duties Act's default for a tenancy agreement is the tenant.
“Check the terms of the document (e.g. tenancy agreement) to determine who is contractually required to pay the stamp duty. When the terms do not state who is liable, the party to pay stamp duty will follow that as specified in the Third Schedule of the Stamp Duties Act.”
This guide describes published rules and links to their sources. It is not legal or tax advice, and Renvae is not a property agency. Rules change — check the source links above before you rely on anything here. What we do and do not do.