Government revises Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty regime for housing developers to support complex projects and onboarding to CORENET X

12 March 2025

On 5 March 2025, the Government announced the following changes to the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (“ABSD”) regime for licensed housing developers (“HDs”):

  • Extension to the ABSD remission timelines for complex projects; and
  • Extension to qualifying period for the ABSD remission timeline extensions for smaller projects submitted through CORENET X.

Currently, licensed HDs purchasing residential land are subject to ABSD, comprising a (i) non-remittable component and (ii) upfront remittable component. The upfront remittable component is clawed back with interest, if the following timelines are not met:

  • Commencement of housing development within two years from the date of acquisition of the site (“commencement timeline”);
  • Completion of the housing development within five years from the date of acquisition of the site (“completion timeline”); and
  • Sale of all housing units within five years from the date of acquisition of the site (“sale timeline”).

In Budget 2024, the Government announced that with effect from 16 February 2024, housing projects with at least 90% of units sold within the sale timeline will be subject to a lower ABSD remission clawback rate, provided that the commencement and completion timelines are also met. This measure provides some flexibility for HDs who may face difficulties in selling all units within the prescribed sale timeline.

Revisions to ABSD remission timelines for complex projects

To encourage HDs to undertake complex large-scale urban transformation developments, optimise land use through intensification or integration, rejuvenate older estates or adopt new construction technologies to achieve higher productivity targets, the Government will provide an extension to ABSD remission timelines for the following categories of projects:

  • Category 1: En bloc redevelopments where (i) the site yields at least 700 residential units upon redevelopment, and (ii) the number of residential units upon redevelopment is at least 1.5 times the number of residential units of the existing development;
  • Category 2: Projects with complex technical or infrastructural requirements. This comprises the following:
    • Sites integrated with major public transport facilities (e.g. MRT stations and bus interchanges);
    • Sites with requirements to implement major public facilities (e.g. hawker centres and underpasses that serve the general public);
    • Sites with requirements to implement district-level infrastructure (e.g. district cooling systems and district pneumatic waste conveyance systems); or
    • Sites with requirements to undertake extensive conservation works;
  • Category 3: Projects approved under the Strategic Development Incentive scheme; and
  • Category 4: Projects that aim to achieve higher productivity targets, through the adoption of nascent construction technologies, methodologies, or progressive practices

(collectively, “Complex Projects”).

Projects that fall within any of the four categories will be provided an extension of six months to the ABSD remission commencement, completion, and sale timelines. Projects that fall within more than one category will be provided an extension of 12 months to the commencement, completion, and sale timelines. These revisions to the ABSD remission timelines will apply to projects on residential land acquired on or after 6 March 2025.

ABSD remission timelines for smaller new projects on CORENET X

CORENET X is a one-stop integrated digital platform that streamlines the regulatory submission and approval process for development projects.

Currently, private residential projects submitted through the CORENET X approval process are eligible for a six-month extension to the ABSD remission commencement, completion, and sale timelines, if the following conditions are met:

(a) The project entirely undergoes the CORENET X approval process for building works;

(b) The first submission is made during the transition period from 18 December 2023 to 31 December 2025; and

(c) The project has a minimum of six months left of its two-year commencement timeline, at the point when the first submission is made under the CORENET X approval process for building works.

Submission through the CORENET X approval process will be mandatory for new projects with a minimum gross floor area (“GFA”) of 30,000 square metres from 1 October 2025, and for all new projects from 1 October 2026. The six-month extension to the ABSD remission commencement, completion, and sale timelines will cease for new projects with a minimum GFA of 30,000 square metres if their first submission is made after 31 December 2025.

To encourage early adoption of CORENET X for smaller projects, the qualifying period for the ABSD remission timeline extensions for new projects with a GFA of less than 30,000 square metres will be extended for first submissions made until 31 December 2026 (inclusive), provided the conditions in paragraphs (a) and (c) above are met.

The ABSD remission timeline extensions granted under CORENET X cannot be combined and added to the extensions granted for Complex Projects.

Reference materials

The following materials are available from the MOF website www.mof.gov.sg and the Building and Construction Authority website www.bca.gov.sg:

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