Current schedule effective 4 July 2025
Seller's Stamp Duty: which holding period applies to you
Two Seller's Stamp Duty schedules are live at the same time, and the one that governs your sale was fixed on the day you bought. Here is how to tell which is yours, and what it costs.
The rule
Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) is decided by the date you bought, not the date you sell.
Which schedule applies to you is fixed by when you acquired the property — the date the Option to Purchase was exercised. Two schedules are current law today, and a property bought a day apart can sit on either side of the line.
SSD is charged on the higher of the sale price and the market value, not simply on what the buyer pays you.
| Sold within | SSD rate |
|---|---|
| The 1st year of holding | 16% |
| The 2nd year | 12% |
| The 3rd year | 8% |
| The 4th year | 4% |
| After 4 years | No SSD |
| Sold within | SSD rate |
|---|---|
| The 1st year of holding | 12% |
| The 2nd year | 8% |
| The 3rd year | 4% |
| After 3 years | No SSD |
The change was announced by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of National Development and the Monetary Authority of Singapore on 3 July 2025 and took effect on 4 July 2025. It did two things at once: it extended the holding period from three years to four, and it added four percentage points to every tier. For an earlier acquisition, the older three-year schedule still governs — that is not a loophole, it is how the rule is written.
For acquisitions before 11 March 2017, every holding period under the schedules then in force has already run out, so no SSD arises on such a property today.
HDB flats are in scope. There is no blanket exemption.
An HDB flat runs the same SSD schedule as a private property.
The reason most flat owners never pay SSD is not an exemption — it is timing. The 5-year Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) simply outlasts the SSD holding window, so by the time a flat can normally be sold, the SSD period has already expired. Where a flat is disposed of inside the window, which needs HDB’s approval, SSD applies unless one of IRAS’s specific exemption routes fits: the flat is returned to or repossessed by HDB or is under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme; a Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme open-market sale for acquisitions after 30 August 2010; or a disposal HDB requires on inheriting a flat, or on a marriage between two flat owners, for disposals from 18 December 2015.
“HDB flats are exempt from Seller’s Stamp Duty” is a common sentence online. It is not what the rule says, and a seller who relies on it in an early-disposal case has budgeted for the wrong number.
Worked example
- PropertyCondominium
- Acquired (option exercised)1 September 2025
- Sale contract executed1 March 2027
- Sale priceS$2,050,000
- Market value at saleS$2,010,000
- Acquisition date is on or after 4 July 2025, so the four-year schedule applies
- Holding period: 1 Sep 2025 to 1 Mar 2027 = 1 year 6 months — the sale falls in the 2nd year of holding
- Rate for a sale in the 2nd year = 12%
- Basis: the higher of sale price S$2,050,000 and market value S$2,010,000 = S$2,050,000
- SSD = 12% × S$2,050,000 = S$246,000
The answer S$246,000. Had the same condominium been acquired on 1 June 2025 instead — five weeks earlier — the three-year schedule would apply, the rate for a sale in the 2nd year would be 8%, and the SSD would be S$164,000.
What changes this answer
- The exact date you acquired the property. Not the booking date, not completion — the date the Option to Purchase was exercised. It selects the whole schedule.
- The exact date the sale contract is executed. The holding period runs to that date, and crossing a tier boundary changes the rate by four percentage points.
- The market value at sale. If it exceeds your sale price, SSD is charged on the market value instead.
- Whether an IRAS exemption route applies. The routes are a specific enumerated list, not a general hardship test.
- For an HDB flat, whether the disposal is inside the SSD window at all. Most are not, because of the Minimum Occupation Period — but that has to be checked against your dates, not assumed.
Sources
Every figure above comes from these official pages. We link them so you can check the number yourself rather than take ours on trust.
Common follow-up questions
Do I pay Seller's Stamp Duty if I sell within four years?
It depends on when you acquired the property. If you acquired it on or after 4 July 2025, SSD applies for four years: 16% in the first year, 12% in the second, 8% in the third and 4% in the fourth. If you acquired it between 11 March 2017 and 3 July 2025, SSD applies for three years at 12%, 8% and 4%, and a sale in the fourth year attracts none.
Are HDB flats exempt from Seller's Stamp Duty?
No. HDB flats run the same SSD schedule as private property and there is no blanket exemption. Most flat sales attract no SSD because the 5-year Minimum Occupation Period outlasts the SSD holding window, not because flats are exempt. A disposal inside the window attracts SSD unless a specific IRAS exemption route applies.
Is Seller's Stamp Duty charged on the price I sell for?
It is charged on the higher of the sale price and the market value.
What changed on 4 July 2025?
The holding period was extended from three years to four, and each tier rose by four percentage points. It applies to properties acquired on or after that date; earlier acquisitions keep the older schedule.
This page explains the published rules and shows the arithmetic so you can check it. It is general information, not financial or legal advice, and it cannot know your full circumstances. Rules change — the effective date above tells you which version this page states. Confirm anything you are about to act on with the official source, or ask Dex with your own numbers.
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