As a US citizen, you pay Singapore-citizen stamp duty.
The US–Singapore Free Trade Agreement gives US nationals the same ABSD schedule as a Singapore citizen — 0% on a first home instead of the 60% every other foreigner pays. Here is what that is actually worth, what it does not get you, and the rules that decide it.
Three numbers decide what a home costs you
ABSD on your first residential property in Singapore — the Singapore-citizen rate. Any other foreigner: 60%.
ABSD on your second — the citizen rate, not the PR one. Any other foreigner: still 60%.
ABSD on your third or any later purchase. Any other foreigner: 60%, every time.
ABSD rates as of Jul 2026 — IRAS. US nationals only; a green card does not qualify. Every other foreigner pays 60% on every residential purchase.
A stamp-duty concession, not an eligibility one
The concession is real and it is large: on a S$1.5m first home the difference against any other foreigner is S$900,000 of ABSD that you simply do not pay. It is a remission under the Free Trade Agreement, claimed by your lawyer through IRAS e-Stamping with your passport as proof of nationality, and it survived the April 2023 round of cooling measures because it is treaty-backed.
What it does not do is change who may buy what. Eligibility sits in a different law — the Residential Property Act — under which a US citizen is a foreign person like any other. It does not cover a spouse or co-buyer who is not a US/EFTA national, Singapore citizen or PR, and it changes nothing about loan limits, TDSR or CPF: you still have no CPF, and banks still haircut offshore income.
Work out your own number
Your stamp duty vs any other foreigner
What you will see
Three columns for the same home: you as a US citizen, any other foreigner, and a Singapore PR — Buyer's Stamp Duty, ABSD, and the total, in S$ and US$. The difference against the foreigner column is the number the FTA is worth to you.
The rules, plainly
The joint-purchase rule
Who you buy with can cost you the whole benefit.
The remission treats the US citizen as if they were a Singapore citizen; a co-buyer keeps their own profile, and ABSD is charged at the highest rate among joint buyers. So who you buy with changes everything:
| Who is buying | ABSD outcome |
|---|---|
| US citizen alone, or with a spouse who is a US/EFTA national or Singapore citizen | 0% / 20% / 30% — the Singapore-citizen schedule. |
| US citizen married to a non-FTA foreigner, neither owns property | 0% — the ABSD Spouses remission applies on the as-if-Singapore-citizen basis. |
| Same couple, buying a second property | 60% at stamping; refundable only if the first home is sold within 6 months. |
| US citizen with an unmarried co-buyer who is a non-FTA foreigner | 60% on the whole price. No remission — the FTA benefit is lost in this structure. |
| US citizen who also holds Singapore PR | 0% / 20% / 30% — still the Singapore-citizen schedule, not the PR one. |
Source: Stamp Duties (Free Trade Agreements) (Remission of ABSD) Rules 2013, r.3; IRAS ABSD Spouses remission. Verified 29/08/2026.
What you can and cannot buy
Condos, yes. HDB, no. Landed — only Sentosa Cove.
- No approval neededCondominiums
- condominium units, flats, and strata-landed houses inside an approved condominium development.
- Not eligibleHDB and EC
- HDB flats and Executive Condominiums. HDB's citizenship and PR rules apply, and the FTA does not touch them.
- Approval required, rarely grantedMainland landed
- terrace, semi-detached and detached houses and vacant land are restricted under the Residential Property Act. SLA's published criteria are Singapore PR for at least five years and exceptional economic contribution, assessed case by case in about 30 working days. A US citizen who holds PR is still a 'foreign person' under that Act and needs the same approval.
- The one landed optionSentosa Cove
- non-PR foreigners can apply to the Land Dealings Approval Unit for a landed home there, where approval is routinely granted. Owner-occupied only, cannot be rented out, one restricted property, land area capped (about 1,800 m²), expedited approval — and the FTA remission still applies, so a first Sentosa Cove home carries 0% ABSD where any other foreigner pays 60%.
Source: Singapore Land Authority — foreign ownership of property. Verified 29/08/2026. Sentosa Cove conditions per SLA/LDAU guidance; confirm current conditions with LDAU before committing.
Financing and holding costs
No CPF, a 75% ceiling, and a five-year hold — the FTA changes none of it.
MAS caps a first housing loan at 75% loan-to-value and total debt servicing at 55% of income, stress-tested at a higher rate than you will pay. Banks typically haircut income earned outside Singapore by around 30% and lend less to non-residents, so plan on a 60–75% loan in practice. There is no CPF for a foreigner — the equity is cash.
Seller's Stamp Duty is 16% / 12% / 8% / 4% if you sell within the 1st / 2nd / 3rd / 4th year (purchases from 4 July 2025). Singapore is a five-year-plus hold.
Property tax on a non-owner-occupied home runs on progressive bands from 12% to 36% of annual value — punitive for a pure rental play, and almost never mentioned on pages like this.
Rates as of Jul 2026 — MAS (LTV, TDSR), IRAS (SSD, property tax). These change without consultation; verify before you exercise an option.
The US side
Singapore does not tax the gain. The IRS does.
- There is no US–Singapore income tax treaty. Singapore has no capital gains tax, so there is no foreign tax to credit — a gain on sale is taxed in full as US capital gains.
- Directly held foreign real estate is not itself reportable on Form 8938, but the Singapore bank account you buy through is: FBAR above US$10,000 in aggregate, Form 8938 above its thresholds.
- Paying off a Singapore-dollar mortgage can create a Section 988 foreign-currency gain when the dollar has moved.
- If you rent it out, foreign residential property is depreciated over 30 years under ADS.
Engage a US CPA who handles expatriate returns before you exercise the option. We are property agents, not tax advisers, and none of the above is tax advice.
Buying from the US
You do not have to live here — but you will need to visit.
The FTA does not require you to live here. What does change is the logistics: a Singapore bank account generally needs an in-person visit (banks set non-resident minimum tiers), signing from abroad means a Power of Attorney notarised in the US and lodged with the Singapore High Court, and financing is on haircut offshore income. Expect the process to take longer than a local purchase, with at least one trip. Most Americans buying here are already on an Employment Pass — if that is you, none of this applies.
One named salesperson, from viewing to keys
You deal with David Ng throughout — not a call centre, not a rotating team. He shortlists with you, negotiates the option, and briefs your conveyancing lawyer to claim the FTA remission at stamping. The AI tools behind this page do the research; he reviews every output before it reaches you.
Talk to David
Cooling measures change overnight
On 27 April 2023 the ABSD rate for foreigners went from 30% to 60% with no consultation, effective the next day. The FTA schedule survived that round because it is treaty-backed, but Singapore has changed stamp duty, loan limits and holding periods many times in the last decade. Every figure on this page is dated, nothing here is a forecast, and the right time to verify is the week you sign.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Your conveyancing lawyer claims the FTA remission when stamping through IRAS e-Stamping and obtains a remission certificate, so a first property is stamped at 0% ABSD from the start. The pay-first-then-refund flow is a different remission — a married couple buying a second home and selling the first within 6 months. Confirm with your lawyer before stamping that the FTA remission is being claimed.
The Singapore-citizen schedule — 0% on your first property, 20% on your second, 30% on your third — not the PR schedule. IRAS confirms a US citizen who is also a PR is treated as a Singapore citizen for ABSD.
Source: IRAS — Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD), FAQ on US citizens who are Singapore PRs
No. The FTA covers US nationals only. A lawful permanent resident of the US pays the standard foreigner rate of 60% unless another remission applies.
If you are married and neither of you owns residential property, yes — the ABSD Spouses remission applies on the same as-if-Singapore-citizen basis. If it is your second property, 60% is payable at stamping and refundable only if you sell the first within 6 months. If you are not married, the highest rate among the buyers applies and there is no remission: 60% on the whole price.
On the mainland, only with approval under the Residential Property Act, and SLA's criteria are Singapore PR for at least five years plus exceptional economic contribution — so in practice not as a non-PR. Sentosa Cove is the exception: non-PR foreigners can apply to buy a landed home there for their own occupation, and the FTA remission still applies to the stamp duty.
A condominium, yes — bear in mind non-owner-occupied property tax runs from 12% to 36% of annual value. A Sentosa Cove landed home bought with foreign-person approval must be owner-occupied and cannot be rented out.
Raise it with your lawyer before stamping — the remission is claimed at that point, and we cannot vouch for the recovery route afterwards. It is the one thing worth putting in writing when you engage your conveyancer.
