Moving to Singapore: where the tax bill actually comes from

Singapore’s personal tax has a low top rate, no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax, and that is where most guides stop. For a family relocating with real assets, the biggest line is rarely income tax. It is stamp duty on a home, which for a foreign buyer can reach 60% on top of the base rate. This is what Singapore taxes, what it leaves out and where the money actually goes.

The bill starts with residency, not a visa

According to IRAS, a foreigner who stays or works in Singapore for at least 183 days in a calendar year is a tax resident for that year. Two concessions apply: someone who is in Singapore across three consecutive years can be treated as resident for all three, and a continuous stay of at least 183 days over two years can make both years resident. The test counts days, not immigration status.

The distinction matters because non-residents are taxed differently. Employment income is taxed at the higher of a flat 15% or the resident rates, without reliefs, and director’s fees, consultancy fees and most other income at a flat 24%. A family that arrives in July can end up in a different regime in its first year than one that arrives in January.

Income tax: a low rate, a high threshold

Resident individuals pay progressive rates from 0% on the first S$20,000 of chargeable income up to 24% on income above S$1 million, according to IRAS rates for the 2026 year of assessment. The tax on the first S$1 million is S$199,150. On a chargeable income of S$2 million the bill is S$439,150, an effective rate of about 22%. That figure is our calculation from the published schedule.

Foreign-sourced income received in Singapore by a resident individual is generally exempt, unless it comes through a Singapore partnership. Dividends from Singapore companies are generally tax-free for the shareholder under the one-tier system. Both rules have conditions, and a family with income from several countries should have its structure checked before it moves.

What Singapore leaves out

Singapore does not tax capital gains. IRAS can, however, treat gains as business income if the pattern of buying and selling amounts to trading, a point HSBC’s Singapore tax guide notes for property and shares. Estate duty was abolished for deaths on or after 15 February 2008, so there is no inheritance tax. Heirs in another country may still face one there.

Where the bill actually comes from: stamp duty

Buyer’s Stamp Duty applies to every purchaser and is progressive from 1% to 6%, which comes to S$24,600 on a S$1 million property. Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) is layered on top for residential property. Since 27 April 2023 foreigners pay 60% on any residential property, and companies and trusts pay 65%. Permanent residents pay 5% on a first home, 30% on a second and 35% on a third. Citizens pay 0%, 20% and 30%. Expat Arrivals reported in April 2026 that the rates were unchanged after Budget 2026.

For a foreign buyer of a S$5 million home, the base duty is S$239,600 and ABSD is S$3 million, a total of S$3,239,600, or about 65% of the price. That is our calculation from the published rates.

There are exceptions. Under Singapore’s free trade agreements, US nationals, and nationals and permanent residents of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, pay the citizen rates, according to Mondaq’s summary of the 2023 changes. The remission has to be applied for. Buying through a company or trust does not help, since entities pay 65%, and IRAS can add a 50% surcharge to duty when it finds an avoidance arrangement. Seller’s stamp duty applies if a residential property is sold within three years, and ABSD does not apply to non-residential property.

Holding costs: property tax

Annual property tax is the property’s annual value multiplied by a progressive rate. Owner-occupied homes pay from 0%, rising to 32% on annual value above S$140,000 under rates effective from 2025. Homes that are not owner-occupied pay 12% on the first S$30,000 of annual value, 20% on the next S$15,000, 28% on the next S$15,000 and 36% above S$60,000.

IRAS grants owner-occupier rates to one property only. A second home you live in is taxed at the higher non-owner-occupier rates.

Everyday costs and the home country

GST is 9% on most goods and services. The other side of the move is the country the family leaves, which may keep taxing it. US citizens, for example, are taxed on worldwide income, and the foreign tax credit usually offsets most of the Singapore tax, according to one expat tax guide. Other countries have their own exit rules and treaties, and these are outside IRAS’s reach.

For a relocating family the questions come in a clear order: where the days are counted, whether to buy and in whose name, and what the home country still claims. Singapore’s rates on income are low, but its property rules are among the harshest for a foreign buyer.