If you've ever wondered whether there's a smarter way to structure a property purchase to avoid paying hundreds of thousands in stamp duty, you're not alone. But before you go further down that thought, you need to understand what's been happening in Singapore's courts, because the consequences are severe, and they're landing on real buyers right now.
Singapore's Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) has become one of the most significant cost factors in any property transaction. For Singapore Citizens, a second property attracts 20% ABSD, and a third attracts 30%. For foreigners without a qualifying Free Trade Agreement, the rate sits at a jaw-dropping 60% on any residential purchase.
To put that in dollar terms: a foreign buyer purchasing a S$3 million apartment faces S$1.8 million in ABSD alone, on top of Buyer's Stamp Duty of roughly S$84,600. That's nearly S$1.9 million in taxes before you even own the property. The financial pressure that creates is enormous, and it's exactly why some buyers have turned to arrangements like nominee ownership and 99-to-1 share structures to try to sidestep the bill.
In one case that's drawn public attention, a S$3 million private apartment was structured with a goddaughter listed as the nominal owner in a 99-to-1 split, while the true economic interest sat with a foreign-linked buyer. Courts and IRAS have made clear that where the economic intention is to circumvent ABSD rather than reflect genuine shared ownership, those arrangements will be treated as sham transactions. The result is full ABSD liability, surcharges, penalties, and interest, wiping out any intended savings many times over.
In my view, ABSD avoidance strategies have existed in some form since the day cooling measures were introduced. In 25 years watching this market, I've seen every cycle of creative structuring, and every cycle of enforcement catching up. What's different now is the scale of the tax wedge and the visibility of enforcement action. IRAS isn't just pursuing cases quietly anymore.
Here's the thing most people miss: the 99-to-1 structure isn't inherently illegal. There are legitimate reasons two parties might own property in unequal shares. The problem is intent. When the sole purpose of the arrangement is to manufacture a "first property" status for one party while the other retains full economic benefit, that's not estate planning. That's tax evasion dressed up in contract language. And the courts are now seeing through it.
What I'm seeing on the ground is that some buyers, especially those with foreign connections or multiple existing properties, are still looking for these structures. My honest advice is always the same: the risk-reward here is completely broken. You might save S$600,000 in ABSD on paper. But if IRAS unwinds the transaction, you're paying the full duty, a surcharge, interest, and potentially facing legal costs and reputational damage. That's not a calculated risk. That's a gamble with terrible odds.
If you're an HDB upgrader thinking about how to hold onto your flat while a spouse buys a condo in their sole name, you need to tread very carefully. The compliant route, selling your HDB first and buying private as a first-time SC buyer at 0% ABSD, remains the cleanest and most financially sound path. Trying to engineer a 99-to-1 or decoupling structure just to preserve "first buyer" status for one spouse will attract scrutiny if IRAS decides the economic ownership was never genuinely transferred.
If you're a private condo investor already holding one or more properties, the 20% to 30% ABSD on your next purchase is real and it has to be factored honestly into your investment math. I know it's painful. But the solution isn't a workaround. It's a sharper entry strategy, a better asset selection, and sometimes the discipline to wait for the right deal where the numbers genuinely work after tax.
If you're a foreign buyer or you're advising someone overseas who's looking at Singapore residential property, the 60% ABSD rate is the single biggest variable in your decision. Citizens of the US and certain EFTA countries may qualify for SC-equivalent treatment under Free Trade Agreement provisions, so that's worth checking first. For everyone else, the economics of Singapore residential property at 60% ABSD are extremely challenging, and any advisor telling you there's a legal shortcut around it is either misinformed or taking a very serious risk with your money and your legal standing.
ABSD is high, it's deliberately high, and the government has shown consistently that it will defend the integrity of the cooling measures through enforcement, not just legislation. The buyers who come out ahead in this environment are the ones who plan properly, structure their purchases compliantly, and work with advisors who give them straight answers instead of clever-sounding arrangements that collapse under scrutiny. If you want to map out the most efficient and fully compliant path to your next property, whether you're upgrading, investing, or buying from overseas, reach out to me directly on WhatsApp at +65 9750 1055 or visit keithtanboonkee.com. Let's get the numbers right from the start.
25 years experience · 1,000+ transactions · 4,379 TOP units managed
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