Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) Singapore 2026: Rates, Holding Period and Examples

Short answer: Sell a Singapore home bought on or after 4 July 2025 within four years and you pay Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) of 16%, 12%, 8% or 4%, falling each year you hold. It is charged on the higher of price or market value. Homes bought from 11 March 2017 to 3 July 2025 keep the three-year 12%, 8%, 4% schedule.

Updated 27 September 2026. Rates and dates checked against the IRAS SSD declaration form (updated 4 July 2025) and the 3 July 2025 MND, MOF and MAS release on this date. The rates have not changed since 4 July 2025.

What are the SSD rates in 2026?

The rate depends on when you bought the home and how long you held it. For residential property bought on or after 4 July 2025, IRAS applies this schedule:

Each rate applies to the whole sale price or market value at the date of sale, whichever is higher. It is not a marginal tax like Buyer's Stamp Duty, and it is not a tax on your gain.

The 3 July 2025 joint release from MND, MOF and MAS lengthened the holding period from three years to four and added 4 percentage points to every tier. The changes apply to residential property bought from 4 July 2025, 12.00am. The release said the government made the change because short-hold sales had risen sharply, especially sub-sales of uncompleted units.

What were the SSD rates before 2017?

IRAS still lists every earlier schedule on its SSD declaration form. By 27 September 2026, anyone who bought before 11 March 2017 has held for more than nine years, which is past every holding period below. So these older rules now matter mainly for checking a past transaction.

The 2025 schedule restores the same four-year, 16%-to-4% structure that applied from 14 January 2011 to 10 March 2017.

Who is still inside the 2017–2025 window? Buyers from the 11 March 2017 to 3 July 2025 period are still liable if they sell within three years. As of 27 September 2026, that covers homes bought from about late September 2023 to 3 July 2025.

How is the SSD holding period counted?

The holding period runs from your date of purchase or acquisition to your date of sale or disposal. IRAS defines both dates on its SSD declaration form.

Three practical points follow from these definitions:

• Completion and key collection dates do not count. For a new launch, the clock starts when you exercise the OTP or sign the Sale and Purchase Agreement, not when the project gets its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP). A sub-sale before TOP is judged against that same start date.
• The sale date is when your buyer commits, not when the sale completes. Granting an option alone does not end your holding period. It ends when your buyer exercises it.
• Each share can have its own holding period. IRAS asks for a separate declaration where co-sellers have different holding periods. In an IRAS example, a husband who received his wife's half share as a gift and sold within the holding period paid SSD on that half share only, counted from the date of the gift.

IRAS words each tier as "1 year or less", "2 years or less" and so on. If you are close to a boundary, confirm the exact dates with your conveyancing lawyer before you grant an option. A single day can move you into a higher tier.

Which sales are exempt from SSD?

IRAS says SSD is not payable in these situations:

Two further IRAS rules change the acquisition date, so the holding period may already be over:

• Inheritance: IRAS takes the date the deceased first acquired the property as the acquisition date. If that date is outside the holding period, heirs who sell straight away pay no SSD.
• Divorce under a court order: a share you receive from your ex-spouse under a divorce court order counts as acquired on the date of the marriage or the date your ex-spouse originally bought it, whichever is later.

IRAS also grants SSD remissions in certain other cases. Unlike the exemptions, the seller must apply for a remission. We have not listed the remission cases because we could not check them against the IRAS page on the review date. Ask IRAS or your lawyer if your sale is unusual.

Do HDB flat and EC owners pay SSD?

In practice, no. The 3 July 2025 release says the revised SSD "will not affect HDB owners" because of the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP).

Our explanation of why (this is our reasoning, not IRAS wording): HDB's standard MOP is five years, or ten years for Plus and Prime flats, counted from key collection. That is longer than the four-year SSD holding period, and it starts later than the SSD clock, which runs from the Agreement for Lease for a new flat or the OTP exercise for a resale flat. So by the time an HDB owner is allowed to sell on the open market, the SSD holding period has already ended.

On our reading, the same arithmetic applies to an executive condominium (EC) bought from the developer. The MOP is five years for ECs on older sites and ten years for sites tendered from 8 May 2026 (see our EC rules guide). Both are longer than four years. This reasoning does not cover an EC bought on the resale market, so check the SSD dates for a resale EC as you would for any private home.

Who pays SSD, and when is it due?

If SSD is due but not fully paid, IRAS treats the sale document as not duly stamped, even if the buyer has paid Buyer's Stamp Duty on it. This matters because the SSD deadline runs from the OTP exercise date, weeks before completion. Plan to pay it from your own funds before your sale proceeds arrive.

Worked examples: how much SSD would you pay?

We recomputed each example using the IRAS rates. All examples use hypothetical dates and prices.

Example 1: Condo bought after 4 July 2025, sold in year 2. You exercised the OTP on 1 August 2025. Your buyer exercises the OTP on 1 October 2026 at S$2,000,000, which is also the market value. The holding period is about 1 year and 2 months, so the rate is 12%. SSD = 12% × S$2,000,000 = S$240,000.

Example 2: Condo bought under the 2017–2025 rules, sold in year 3. You exercised the OTP on 15 January 2024. Your buyer exercises the OTP on 20 September 2026 at S$1,500,000. The holding period is about 2 years and 8 months. Under the pre-4 July 2025 schedule, that is 4%. SSD = 4% × S$1,500,000 = S$60,000. Had you waited until after 15 January 2027, SSD would have been nil.

Example 3: Selling at a loss still attracts SSD. You bought on 10 September 2025 for S$1,300,000. You sell on 1 August 2026 for S$1,200,000, but the market value on that date is S$1,250,000. The holding period is under 1 year, so the rate is 16%, applied to the higher of the price and the market value. SSD = 16% × S$1,250,000 = S$200,000, on top of a S$100,000 loss on the price.

Example 4: Sub-sale of an uncompleted new launch. You exercised the OTP for a new-launch unit on 10 August 2025. Before TOP, a sub-sale buyer exercises your OTP on 1 July 2028 at S$1,750,000. The holding period is about 2 years and 11 months, so the rate is 8%. SSD = 8% × S$1,750,000 = S$140,000. Under the pre-July 2025 schedule, the same timing would have cost 4% (S$70,000). A sale after 3.5 years would now cost 4% (S$70,000), where before it was nil.

What SSD costs at a S$1.5 million sale price:

Is there SSD on industrial property?

Yes, under a separate IRAS regime that the 2025 residential changes did not alter. IRAS's industrial SSD declaration form (updated 27 March 2024) sets out these rates for industrial property and land bought on or after 12 January 2013:

Industrial property bought before 12 January 2013 attracts no SSD. As with homes, the rate applies to the higher of the price and market value, and the duty is due within 14 days of the date of sale. IRAS publishes SSD rules for two property types only: residential and industrial.

FAQ

Did SSD rates change in 2026?

No. As of 27 September 2026, the latest change is the one that took effect on 4 July 2025: a four-year holding period and rates of 16%, 12%, 8% and 4% for homes bought from that date.

Is SSD charged on my profit?

No. SSD is a percentage of the whole sale price or market value, whichever is higher. You pay it whether you sell at a gain or a loss (see Example 3).

I bought in 2024. Do the new 16% rates apply to me?

No. The new rates apply only to residential property bought on or after 4 July 2025. A 2024 purchase stays on the 12%, 8% and 4% schedule, with no SSD after three years.

Do I pay SSD if I sell an inherited property?

Only if the sale falls within the holding period counted from the date the deceased first acquired the property. IRAS uses the deceased's acquisition date, not the date of death or the date of transfer to you.

Does SSD apply to HDB flats?

In practice, no. The MOP of at least five years is longer than the four-year SSD holding period, and the 2025 release says the revised SSD will not affect HDB owners.

When exactly does my SSD clock stop?

On the date your buyer exercises the OTP, or signs the Sale and Purchase Agreement if there is no option. Completion months later does not count. The SSD is then due within 14 days of that date.

Sources

• IRAS: Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) for Residential Property, covering exemptions (bankruptcy, compulsory acquisition, licensed developers, public authorities, involuntary winding up) and the gifted-share example
• IRAS: Seller's Stamp Duty for Residential Properties declaration form (updated 4 July 2025), covering all rate schedules since 20 February 2010, the definitions of acquisition and disposal dates, the 14-day deadline and penalties
• IRAS: FAQs on SSD for residential property, covering the basis (price or market value), exemptions, remissions and e-Stamping
• MND, MOF and MAS: Extension of the holding period of Seller's Stamp Duty and higher SSD rates, 3 July 2025
• IRAS (Ask Gov): SSD on an inherited property sold immediately and SSD after a divorce transfer
• IRAS: Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) for Industrial Property and the industrial SSD declaration form (updated 27 March 2024)

This page explains how Seller's Stamp Duty works and does not give personal tax or financial advice. Confirm your holding period and the duty on your sale with IRAS or your conveyancing lawyer before you grant an option.