Iras raising HDB property tax in line with spike in rentals

[SINGAPORE] Most owners of Housing Board flats can expect to pay more in property taxes next year, as the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) will be revising the annual value (AV) of HDB flats in line with increase in market rentals.

Iras said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 1) that the AV will be revised upwards by 4 per cent to 6 per cent, with effect from January next year, and that this is part of its annual review of properties to compute the property tax payable.

With the revision in AV, all one-room and two-room flat owner-occupiers will not be required to pay property tax.

This will also be the case for 35 per cent of three-room flat owner-occupiers, while 65 per cent of three-room flat owner-occupiers will each pay between $8 and $14 more annually.

The four-room, five-room and executive flat owner-occupiers will each pay between $21 and $26 more annual property tax in 2022.

Iras said it monitors market rental trends to determine the AV of properties.

AV is the estimated annual rent of the property if it were to be rented out and is determined based on the market rents of comparable properties.

The AV of HDB flats had remained unchanged since its last revision in 2017.

However, Iras added, with the rising market rents of HDB flats in 2021, the AV of all HDB flats will need to be revised upwards from Jan 1 next year.

THE STRAITS TIMES