Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty is simple to state and expensive to get wrong.
What you pay
The rate depends on your residency and on how many residential properties you already own. These have applied since 27 April 2023 and are unchanged as at October 2026.
- Singapore Citizen: nothing on a first property, 20% on a second, 30% on a third or more
- Permanent Resident: 5% on a first, 30% on a second, 35% on a third or more
- Foreigner: 60% on any residential property
- Entity or trustee: 65%
On a joint purchase, the highest rate among the buyers applies to the whole purchase. A citizen buying with a foreign spouse is assessed at the foreign rate unless a treaty or remission applies, which is why who goes on the title is a decision with a price on it.
The six month clock
Buy before you sell and the ABSD is payable at the point of purchase. You can claim it back, but only inside a window, and only if you fit the conditions.
The window starts on different dates depending on what you bought:
- A completed property: six months from the date of purchase
- A property still under construction: six months from TOP or CSC, whichever is earlier
That second case matters more than it looks. If you bought a new launch three years from completion, the clock has not started yet, and will not until the development is finished. People miss the refund because they assumed it had already run out, or because they assumed it had not yet begun when the TOP had quietly been issued.
Who qualifies
All of the following, not some of them:
- Legally married at the date of purchase of the second property
- At least one spouse a Singapore Citizen
- The second property bought in the two spouses’ names only
- Neither spouse owning any other residential property beyond the one being replaced
- The first property sold within the window, and the claim filed within six months of that sale
No extensions. IRAS says so plainly, and the deadline is applied as written.
If the flat does not sell
The ABSD stays paid. There is no appeal based on a slow market, a buyer who pulled out, or a valuation that came in short.
Which is the real argument for not treating the sale as the easy half of the move. If you have bought first, the flat has to be priced to clear, marketed properly from day one, and not held back for three months in the hope of a better number.
Bridging
A bridging loan covers the period between paying for the new property and receiving the money from the old one. It is short term, the interest is real, and it is worth comparing honestly against the alternative of selling first and renting for a few months.
Bridging is a solution to a timing problem. It is not a solution to not having enough, and it should never be the thing that makes an unaffordable purchase look affordable.
Everything above is checkable in advance. None of it is a surprise unless nobody looked.
Figures checked October 2026. ABSD, BSD and SSD rates are set by IRAS, loan limits by MAS, CPF rules by the CPF Board, and flat rules by HDB. These change, sometimes overnight. Nothing here is tax or financial advice, and your own position depends on your profile, your timing and your lender. Check the current figure before you commit to anything.
