Holding period for Seller’s Stamp Duty extended for residential properties and Seller’s Stamp Duty rates raised

29 July 2025

On 3 July 2025, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”), Ministry of Finance (“MOF”), and Ministry of National Development (“MND”) announced ina joint press release the following changes to Seller’s Stamp Duty (“SSD”) for residential properties:

• Increase of the holding period from three to four years; and
• Increase of the SSD rates by four percentage points for each tier of the holding period.

These SSD changes take effect for all residential properties purchased on and after 4 July 2025, 12.00am. Owners of Housing and Development Board (“HDB”) flats are not affected by the revised SSD due to the Minimum Occupation Period for HDB flats.

Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD)

SSD is payable by those who sell a residential property within a specified period after purchase. In 2017, this period was reduced from four to three years, and the SSD rates were also reduced by four percentage points for each tier of the holding period.

In recent years, the number of private residential property transactions with short holding periods has increased sharply, particularly in the sub-sale of uncompleted units. Therefore, the Government has reverted to the pre-2017 SSD holding period of four years, and raised the SSD rates by four percentage points for each tier of the holding period as set out in the table below. These changes apply to all residential property purchased on and after 4 July 2025, 12.00am.

Reference materials

The press release jointly issued by MAS, MOF, and MND is available on the MAS website www.mas.gov.sg.

The following Notification and Orders are issued pursuant to the Stamp Duties Act 1929 and came into force on 4 July 2025:

• Stamp Duties Act 1929 (Amendment of First and Third Schedules) Notification 2025
• Stamp Duties (Section 22A) (Amendment) Order 2025
• Stamp Duties (Section 23) (Amendment) Order 2025