Singapore's 60% ABSD for Foreigners: How It Actually Works

Singapore's Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) for foreigners has stood at 60% since 27 April 2023, layered on top of the standard Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD) that every buyer pays regardless of nationality. BSD itself is progressive, running from 1% to 6% depending on the purchase price — so even before ABSD enters the picture, Singapore already charges more stamp duty on higher-value homes the way most progressive tax systems do.

ABSD is where residency status changes the outcome dramatically. Singapore Citizens pay 0% ABSD on a first residential property, but the rate climbs sharply for additional purchases: 20% on a second property and 30% on a third or subsequent one. Permanent Residents don't get the same first-property exemption — they pay 5% ABSD even on their first purchase, before any surcharge for additional properties applies. Foreigners face the steepest tier by far: 60% ABSD on any residential purchase, first property or not.

The combined effect is easiest to see in cash terms. A foreigner buying a S$2,000,000 condominium pays roughly S$74,600 in BSD plus S$1,200,000 in ABSD — a combined stamp duty bill of about S$1,274,600, well over 60% of the purchase price, due entirely at the point of purchase rather than spread over time. A Singapore Citizen buying the same unit as a first home would pay only the S$74,600 BSD and nothing else, a gap of well over a million Singapore dollars driven purely by residency status.

This is deliberate policy, not an oversight: with a small, land-constrained housing market, ABSD is IRAS's primary lever for cooling foreign speculative demand without restricting supply. There is one meaningful exception worth checking before assuming the 60% rate applies to you — nationals of certain countries with a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore, including the United States and Switzerland among others, are treated the same as Singapore Citizens for ABSD purposes. Since FTA coverage can change and isn't automatic just because you hold a passport from one of those countries, confirm your status against IRAS's current FTA list before budgeting for a purchase.