B is for Budget and BT Property Week

FINANCE Minister Lawrence Wong delivered a Budget with broad-based personal tax reliefs and social support, as well as moves to ease Singapore-based companies into the coming BEPS regime. Homeowners will cheer at the revisions in annual value bands, which raise property tax thresholds and should result in “the same or lower” tax bills in 2025 for many. 

Private property owners have baulked at seeing their property tax bills shoot up this year, after a two-tiered tax hike designed as a de facto wealth tax kicked in. #richpeopleproblems? Sure, but the suddenly bigger burden weighs heavily on a large number of Singaporeans who, as owner-occupiers, have not gained from rents surging over the last two years. 

Also, for the demographic of older Singaporeans whose key assets are their owner-occupied homes, lack of cash flow strains their ability to pay for costs such as property tax. In his post-Budget commentary, Leslie Yee points out that lower property taxes help, but homeowners need to pay heed to the costs of holding property. Perhaps what’s needed is a cold-eyed assessment of whether one can afford to hang on to one’s private property, and sell to move to a “right-sized” home while one still has the energy to move house and age with dignity.