What is ABSD remission and how does it differ from a refund?
A remission means the duty is never charged. A refund means it is charged, paid, and later returned. Which one applies depends on your circumstances at the moment of stamping, and the distinction matters because the refund route requires you to find the cash first.
A couple who own no property at all and buy jointly can have the ABSD remitted outright. A couple upgrading from one home to another must pay the ABSD, sell the old home within the window, and claim the money back.
What do married couples buying their first home together get?
Full ABSD remission may apply where all of the following hold: the couple includes a Singapore Citizen spouse, the property is purchased under both names of the couple only, and neither spouse owns any residential property.
This is the route that lets a citizen married to a foreigner or a PR buy a first home without the 60% or 5% rate applying. Both BSD and ABSD are technically payable on stamping, but where the conditions are met the remission is applied for instead of paying the ABSD.
The condition that the property be purchased "under both names of the couple only" is strict. Adding a parent or a sibling to the title defeats the remission.
How does the refund work when upgrading to a second home?
This is the common case: a family buys the next home before selling the current one, because almost nobody can sell first and be homeless in between. ABSD is paid on the second purchase and refunded once the first home is sold.
Every one of the following conditions must be met, and the two deadlines are the part that catches people:
- Neither spouse owned an interest in more than one residential property each at the date of purchase of the second property.
- ABSD has been paid on the second property.
- The first property is sold within 6 months — of the date of purchase of the second property if it was completed, or of the issue date of the Temporary Occupation Permit or Certificate of Statutory Completion, whichever is earlier, if it was uncompleted.
- The couple remains married, and ownership of the second property has not changed at the time the first is sold.
- No other residential property has been purchased since the second property.
- The refund application is made within 6 months after the date of sale of the first property.
IRAS defines the date of purchase as the date the Option to Purchase is accepted, or the date of the Sale and Purchase Agreement, or the date of transfer where neither applies. The date of sale is defined the same way from the buyer's side. Both clocks run on those dates, not on completion.
Can the six-month deadline be extended?
No. IRAS is unusually direct about this: an extension of the six-month timeline "will not be acceded to". Their published guidance addresses and rejects each of the reasons people ask.
Poor market conditions, cooling measures, the Seventh Month, festivals and public holidays, an old property that is slow to sell, having engaged several agents, having cut the asking price below valuation — IRAS names all of these and refuses them. So are personal circumstances such as children's exams or needing time to move in. So is having been wrongly advised by an agent or lawyer.
Their own advice is the practical answer: market the first property early at a realistic price, or secure a buyer for it before you commit to the next purchase.
On a S$1,500,000 second home, missing the window costs a citizen couple S$300,000. There is no appeal route once the deadline passes.
How do I claim the refund, and how long does it take?
Since 2 July 2023 the refund is automatic for most people. If the "Sale & Purchase – Purchase/Acquisition" form was submitted on or after that date, and you declared in the e-Stamping form both your intention to sell the first property and your claim for the refund, IRAS refunds the ABSD within six weeks of the sale of the first property being stamped. No application is needed.
For stampings submitted before 2 July 2023, or where the declaration was not made, you must apply manually through the myTax Portal under Request, then Apply for Refund. That service works on desktop only — it is not available on mobile.
The declaration in the e-Stamping form is the step that makes the refund automatic. If your conveyancing lawyer did not tick it, you fall back to the manual route — worth confirming with them at the time of stamping rather than six months later.
What other ABSD remissions exist?
The married-couple rules cover the largest group, but IRAS maintains a much longer list. Three of the others matter to ordinary buyers and are barely written about anywhere.
- Free Trade Agreement nationals — nationals and permanent residents of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and nationals of the United States of America, are treated as Singapore Citizens for stamp duty.
- Remission of ABSD (Trust) — where residential property is transferred into a trust, the 65% trustee rate applies, but a remission is available where the beneficial owner is identifiable.
- ABSD Concession for Single Singapore Citizen Seniors — a route that receives almost no coverage online and is worth checking if you are an older single citizen downsizing.
- Acquisition of HDB flats and new Executive Condominium units; transfer of HDB flats within a family; matrimonial proceedings; conveyance directions; aborted sale and purchase agreements; terminated leases; and acquiring an additional interest in a property you already part-own.
Does the COVID-era extension still apply?
Only in a narrow historical set of cases. The government extended the sale timeline by six months for Singaporean married couples, but the qualifying conditions are both restrictive and now largely in the past.
To qualify, the second residential property must have been jointly purchased on or before 1 June 2020, and the original deadline for selling the first property must have expired on or after 1 February 2020. If your purchase falls outside those dates, the ordinary six-month rule applies with no relief.
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Work out the ABSD you would pay upfront on a second property — the amount you would be reclaiming.
Open the calculator →Frequently asked questions
What is ABSD remission?
A remission means the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty is not charged at all, as opposed to a refund where it is paid and later returned. The most common remission covers a married couple including a Singapore Citizen who buy a property jointly in both names only and where neither spouse owns any residential property.
How do I claim back ABSD?
If your stamping was submitted on or after 2 July 2023 and you declared your intention to sell and your refund claim in the e-Stamping form, the refund is automatic within six weeks of the sale of your first property being stamped. Otherwise apply through the IRAS myTax Portal under Request, then Apply for Refund — on desktop, as the service does not work on mobile.
How long does an ABSD refund take?
Six weeks from the stamping of the sale of your first property, where the automatic route applies. Manual applications take longer and depend on IRAS processing. The refund is separate from the six-month deadline for selling — meeting the sale deadline is what creates the entitlement.
How soon must I apply for an ABSD refund?
Within six months after the date of sale of your first property. That is a second deadline, distinct from the six months you had to sell it in. If the refund is automatic you do not need to apply at all, but the sale itself must still have happened inside the first window.
Can the six-month ABSD deadline be extended?
No. IRAS states that an extension will not be granted, and its published guidance specifically rejects poor market conditions, cooling measures, festivals and public holidays, a slow-selling older property, personal circumstances such as children's exams, and having been wrongly advised by an agent or lawyer.
Can a single buyer qualify for ABSD remission on a second property?
The spouses remission is written for married couples buying jointly, so a single purchaser does not qualify under it. IRAS addresses this question directly in its guidance. There is a separate concession for single Singapore Citizen seniors, which is worth checking if it might apply to you.
What happens if I miss the six-month window?
The ABSD you paid on the second property is forfeited. There is no appeal and no partial relief. On a S$1.5 million second home bought by a citizen couple that is S$300,000 — which is why IRAS advises securing a buyer for the first property before committing to the next purchase.
Do both spouses need to be Singapore Citizens?
No. The couple must include a Singapore Citizen spouse. That is what allows a citizen married to a PR or a foreigner to buy a first home jointly without the higher rate applying, provided the property is in both their names only and the other conditions are met.
Does the remission apply if we add a parent to the title?
No. The condition is that the property is purchased under both names of the couple only. Adding any third party to the title, including a parent or a child, defeats the remission.
Is ABSD refunded if the sale falls through?
A separate remission covers aborted sale and purchase agreements, which is not the same thing as the spouses remission. If your own sale or purchase collapses, raise it with IRAS directly — the treatment depends on which document was stamped and what happened to it.
Sources
Every rate on this page was read directly from IRAS on . Stamp duty rules change with little notice — confirm against IRAS before you commit to a purchase.
- ↗ IRAS — Remission of ABSD for a married couple
- ↗ IRAS — Foreigners eligible for ABSD remission under Free Trade Agreements
- ↗ IRAS — Common stamp duty remissions and reliefs for property
- ↗ IRAS — Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD)
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