Rental income tax in Singapore: letting out a new launch

Renting out a new launch changes two separate IRAS bills. Property tax moves from the low owner-occupier rates to the higher non-owner-occupier rates from the date of letting, and the rent itself becomes taxable income. On one illustrative Annual Value (AV) of S$60,000, yearly property tax is S$2,720 while you live in the home and S$10,800 once it is let out.

Rental income tax in Singapore is charged on the rent less allowed costs: either 15% of the gross rent plus mortgage interest, or your actual expenses, never both. IRAS must also be told about the letting within 15 days unless the tenancy agreement is stamped through myTax Portal, and the fine for missing that duty is up to S$5,000.

The rent, AV and loan interest below are invented to show the arithmetic. Every rate and rule is IRAS’s, as read on 17 October 2026. This is general information for an individual owner of a residential unit, not tax advice.

What happens to property tax when you let out a new launch?

IRAS applies owner-occupier rates automatically to a Singapore citizen or permanent resident who buys private residential property, as long as neither the buyer nor their spouse already enjoys those rates on another home. A buyer who does not intend to live in the unit is asked to withdraw them (step 1 below).

Once the whole home is let, IRAS says the rates are withdrawn from the date of letting. Letting a room while you live there does not trigger this, although the rent is still taxable. An empty unit gets no concession either: IRAS taxes vacant residential property at the non-owner-occupier rates, with no relief, because property tax is a tax on owning the property whether it is occupied, let or empty.

AV, not the rent you agree, is the tax base. IRAS defines AV as the estimated gross annual rent the property could fetch if let, excluding furniture, furnishings and maintenance fees, set from market rents of comparable properties and not from the rent you actually receive. It is reviewed every year, and you can object to an AV within 30 days of the Valuation Notice but not to the tax rates.

How much more is non-owner-occupier property tax?

IRAS’s non-owner-occupier residential rates, effective from 1 January 2024, are:

• 12% on the first S$30,000 of AV
• 20% on the next S$15,000 (to S$45,000)
• 28% on the next S$15,000 (to S$60,000)
• 36% on the amount above S$60,000

On an illustrative AV of S$60,000 that is S$3,600 + S$3,000 + S$4,200 = S$10,800 a year. IRAS’s owner-occupier rates, effective from 1 January 2025, give S$0 + S$1,120 + S$600 + S$1,000 = S$2,720 on the same AV; the full band list is in our monthly cost guide. Letting out therefore adds S$8,080 a year, about S$673 a month, and property tax alone would take 20% of the S$54,000 a year of rent assumed in the worked example below. To try another Annual Value at both sets of rates, our free property tax calculator shows them side by side; it does not work out rental income tax.

The gap widens as AV rises. IRAS’s own worked examples give S$960 owner-occupier against S$4,800 non-owner-occupier at an AV of S$36,000, and S$5,480 against S$19,440 at S$84,000.

The Ministry of Finance and IRAS announced on 28 November 2025 a one-off rebate for 2026: 10%, capped at S$500, for owner-occupied private residential property (15% for HDB flats), offset automatically against the 2026 property tax bill. On the S$2,720 example that is S$272, giving S$2,448 for 2026. The release covers owner-occupied properties only and does not mention let-out or vacant homes, so we apply none to the let-out figure.

How is the rent taxed: the 15% claim or actual expenses?

IRAS treats the rent and related payments, such as furniture rental or a forfeited deposit, as income. You report it under “Other Income: Rent from property”, and it is taxable from the date it is due and payable, not the date you receive it. For a tenanted residential property there are two ways to claim costs:

• Deemed route: IRAS pre-fills 15% of the gross rent as expenses, and you may also claim the mortgage interest on the loan used to buy the unit. You need not keep records of other expenses, but keep the interest documents for at least 5 years.
• Actual route: you claim what you actually spent and keep the agreements, statements, invoices and receipts for at least 5 years.

You cannot mix them. Interest counts under both routes; repayments of loan principal count under neither. The deemed route is not available if you incurred no deductible expense other than interest, if the rent comes through a partnership, or if the property is held under a trust. If you let several residential properties and claim actual expenses on one, you must do so on all.

The actual route allows, among other items, property tax for the rental period, fire insurance, repairs that restore the property, management corporation maintenance charges and the cost of getting a tenant (agent’s commission, advertising, legal expenses and stamp duties, but nothing for a lease term over three years). It does not allow renovation, initial repairs or depreciation of furnishings.

From YA 2022, repairs, insurance, maintenance and property tax for a vacancy between leases can be deducted if you made reasonable efforts to find a tenant. The gap before the first tenant is less clear. IRAS allows expenses “incurred solely for producing the rental income and during the period of tenancy”, and its vacancy rule is worded for a vacancy “in between leases”. In its example, a property bought in May 2024, renovated for three months and let from September 2024 claims interest and property tax for September to December 2024 only, and the renovation cost is disallowed. Our inference, not IRAS’s wording: interest and property tax for months before the first tenancy, which on a new launch can include the months after you collect the keys, may not be deductible, so ask IRAS before claiming them.

Worked example: what S$4,500 a month leaves to tax

Illustrative assumptions: an AV of S$60,000, rent of S$4,500 a month for the full year (S$54,000), mortgage interest of S$30,000 and property tax of S$10,800 from above. No other costs yet.

Deemed route:

• Gross rent: S$54,000
• Deemed expenses at 15%: S$8,100, leaving S$45,900 before interest
• Mortgage interest: S$30,000
• Taxable rental income: S$15,900

Actual route:

• Gross rent: S$54,000
• Mortgage interest: S$30,000
• Property tax: S$10,800
• Taxable rental income: S$13,200, before any other cost you can document

The actual route is S$2,700 lower even before maintenance charges, insurance or an agent’s fee. The decision rule: it gives the lower figure when your documented costs other than interest exceed 15% of the rent, which is S$8,100 here. Property tax alone is S$10,800, so it clears the line by itself.

If costs outrun rent, the result is a loss. With S$50,000 of interest on the actual route, S$54,000 − S$50,000 − S$10,800 is a loss of S$6,800. IRAS does not let a rental loss offset salary or other income, or carry forward; as an administrative concession, it can offset another property’s rental income in the same year if all are let at market rates.

The taxable figure is then charged at IRAS’s resident rates (from YA 2024, page updated 27 April 2026). The table has thirteen bands, from 0% on the first S$20,000 to 24% above S$1 million. Chargeable income from S$80,000 to S$120,000 is taxed at 11.5%, S$120,000 to S$160,000 at 15% and S$160,000 to S$200,000 at 18%, with S$3,350, S$7,950 and S$13,950 payable on the first S$80,000, S$120,000 and S$160,000. Assume, as our arithmetic and not an IRAS statement, that net rent is added to your other chargeable income, and ignore reliefs and rebates:

• Other chargeable income of S$90,000: tax is S$4,500. Adding S$15,900 of rent makes S$105,900 and tax of S$6,328.50, so the rent adds S$1,828.50, all at 11.5%.
• Other chargeable income of S$150,000: tax is S$12,450. Adding S$15,900 makes S$165,900 and tax of S$15,012, so the rent adds S$2,562: S$1,500 at 15% and S$1,062 at 18%.

On the actual route’s S$13,200 the additions are S$1,518 and S$2,076.

What must you tell IRAS, and by when?

These are the notification and filing duties on IRAS’s renting-out, owner-occupier and rental income pages, in the order a new landlord is likely to meet them (the order is ours).

1. If you do not intend to live in the unit: IRAS asks you to withdraw the owner-occupier rates through its “Apply/Withdraw Owner-Occupier Tax Rates” digital service, to avoid a penalty for late or non-notification. The rates are withdrawn from the date of letting.
2. Within 14 days of signing the tenancy agreement in Singapore (30 days after receiving it in Singapore, if signed overseas): stamp it through myTax Portal. Penalties apply if late. If your tenant is liable to stamp it, ask for the stamp duty certificate.
3. Within 15 days after letting: tell IRAS for property tax, unless the lease is stamped through myTax Portal, which notifies IRAS. The fine is up to S$5,000, plus interest on the tax.
4. When the rent rises: stamp the variation through myTax Portal. If stamping will come more than 15 days after the increase, tell IRAS within 15 days. The same fine applies.
5. When rent falls, a tenant leaves or the unit is empty: IRAS says you need not inform it for property tax.
6. With each Income Tax Return: declare the gross rent and deductible expenses for each property, including rent due in the year but paid later. Check the pre-filled 15%, and select “Actual Allowable Expense” if you claim actual costs.
7. When a tenancy ends and you move in: reapply for owner-occupier rates through the same digital service; they do not return automatically. Apply within 5 years of becoming eligible to get a full refund of any overpaid tax.

If rent was left out of a return, IRAS may waive the penalty for a voluntary disclosure made within one year of the statutory filing date.

What could change the result?

• Joint owners: IRAS taxes each owner on their legal share of the net rent, whoever receives the rent or paid for the property.
• Non-resident owners: IRAS’s rates page gives the non-resident individual rate as 24% and says it applies to income including rental income from properties, with exceptions for employment income and some income taxed at reduced withholding rates. The residency tests are on that page.

What to do before the first tenancy

• Find the AV. IRAS’s “View Property Summary” shows your property’s AV for the current year and up to the past four years. Its “Check Annual Value of Property” service shows any property’s AV for S$2.50 a search. Our suggestion: use it on comparable units that already have an AV as a rough guide, not a forecast of your own unit’s AV.
• Run both rate tables on that AV, compare the 15% claim with actual expenses using the decision rule above, and put the stamping and 15-day dates in a calendar when the agreement is signed.
• Recheck IRAS’s rate pages before you sign. The tables we read take effect from 1 January 2025 (owner-occupier) and 1 January 2024 (non-owner-occupier), on a rates page last updated 11 August 2026.

How property tax starts after the temporary occupation permit (TOP) is in our guide to the first property tax bill on a new condo. The loan behind the interest line is in our home loan guide, and purchase duties, including ABSD on an additional home, are in the stamp duty guide. See also the new launch glossary and Compare carefully.

Common questions