Debated in Parliament on 7 May 2024.
Ms He Ting Ru asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance with regard to the "99-to-1" arrangement for payment of stamp duty in a property purchase (a) how many audits have been conducted to date; (b) how many tax avoidance cases has the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) found; (c) what is the total amount of unpaid additional stamp duty that has been clawed back by IRAS so far; and (d) how many instances has IRAS levied the 50% surcharge on the additional duty payable.
The "99-to-1" arrangement is a tax avoidance arrangement used by some property buyers to reduce the rightful Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) payable on the purchase of a residential property.
When such property purchase arrangements are made to reduce the tax payable, the Commissioner of Stamp Duties is empowered under section 33A of the Stamp Duties Act to disregard the individual transactions and assess them as a single joint purchase and to recover the rightful amount of ABSD due, along with a 50% surcharge.
As of April 2024, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore has completed the review of 187 such "99-to-1" cases, of which 166 cases were found to have involved tax avoidance and about $60 million in ABSD and surcharges will accordingly be clawed back. Out of the 166 cases found to have involved tax avoidance, about 10 cases with evidence of potential involvement by property agents are currently under review by the Council for Estate Agencies.
PAPERCUTS