Budget 2023: Buyer’s Stamp Duties for property purchase to be raised from Feb 15.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said in his Singapore Budget 2023 speech in Parliament today that Buyer stamp Duties (BSD) for higher- value residential and non-residential properties will be raised from 15th Feb.

For residential properties, the portion of the value of the property in excess of $1.5 million and up to $3 million will be taxed at 5 per cent, while that in excess of $3 million will be taxed at 6 per cent. This is up from the current rate of 4 per cent.

For non-residential properties, the portion of the value of the property in excess of $1 million and up to $1.5 million will be taxed at 4 per cent, while that in excess of $1.5 million will be taxed at 5 per cent. This is up from the current rate of 3 per cent.

15% and 60% of residential and non-residential properties are expected to be affected respectively.

Let’s look at what are the difference with this change in the Marginal BSD rates.

budget 2023 BSD residential property

Although this may affect more than 50% of the purchasers, it is not expected to impact home sales significantly as the increase in BDS should still be manageable for most home buyers between $1.5 million to $3 million.

For example, the difference is $5,000 in the case of a $2 million property, not a huge jump before the adjustment.

Budget 2023 BSD

For non-residential properties, the portion of the value of the property in excess of $1 million and up to $1.5 million will be taxed at 4%. Properties in excess of $1.5 million will be taxed at 5% up from the current rate of 3%.

Although this may seem like a big surge, demand for non-residential properties in Singapore will still be healthy, underpinned by the country’s sound fundamentals. We anticipate that buyers/investors will be able to take the increase in BSD payment in their stride and that the non-residential property segment should remain resilient.