As homeowners, one of the most dreaded times that we can’t run away from is when tax season rolls around. After all, who loves paying taxes? And depending on what type of property you own, the tax you have to pay on it could range from the low thousands to as high as tens of thousands!
Well, the government has just announced some good news for homebuyers—a one-off property tax rebate, applicable for owner-occupied HDB flats and private homes, for the 2025 tax season.
Here’s everything you need to know about the recent announcement and a quick refresher on how property taxation works.
If you own a HDB flat
If you currently own and occupy a HDB flat, the government will be providing a one-off rebate of 15%, which you will see reflected in your property tax statement next year. You won’t need to do anything; the rebate will be automatically offset against any property tax payable in your 2026 bill.
Note that this is applicable to 3-room and larger flats only, because one and two room HDB flats do not pay any property tax.
You might recall that the government introduced a similar property tax rebate last year as well. In 2024, the government introduced a 20% rebate for HDB flats, along with a revision in the property Annual Value (AV) banding which helped to reduce the tax burden for many property owners across the board. While this year’s 15% is lower than last year, it is nonetheless a welcome incentive to help us save some money on taxes.
If you own a condo or landed property
Image credit: Steeve Tan
For Owner-Occupied private residential properties, the tax rebate is 10%, capped at $500. Notably, this is lower than last year’s rebate for private homes, which was 15% capped at $1,000.
Also, it’s important to bear in mind that the rebates are only applicable if you own and are currently occupying your home. Owners of investment properties (i.e. renting it out) will not be eligible for the rebate for their non-owner-occupied properties.
Overall, the property tax rebates are meant to help cushion the tax increases, amidst a moderating residential rental market with modest increases in market rents. Since 2022, the Annual Value of homes have been steadily increasing, corresponding to higher property taxes for homeowners. This is due to factors such as increasing rents; according to reports, in 2025 the all-residential rental index increased for the fifth straight quarter since the 3Q 2024. Private residential rents also increased by around 2.4% year on year for the same period.
All property owners will receive their 2026 property tax bills in December, and you can opt to pay either in interest-free instalments or a one-time deduction.
A quick refresher: how is property tax calculated?
In case you were unclear, here’s a quick refresher on how property tax is determined.
In short, the total tax payable is largely dependent on the Annual Value of your home, based on the formula: Property Tax Payable = Annual Value (AV) x Property Tax Rate
A property’s Annual Value is determined by the estimated gross annual rent of the property, excluding things such as furniture, furnishings and maintenance fees. It is calculated based on estimated market rentals of similar or comparable properties, taking into consideration factors such as the size and location of the property, and of course, market dynamics. Property AVs are reviewed every year by IRAS.
Homeowners can check the AV of their properties for the current year and preceding four years by simply logging into the Tax Portal on the IRAS website. To give you a sense of how rental rates are going for comparable properties, you can also check out the HDB website for rental rates of HDB flats, and the URA website for rental rates of private residential properties. Otherwise, you can just wait for your tax statement, which will detail your property’s AV.
Of course, there is also an option for homeowners to appeal the valuation of their properties. According to IRAS, you can object to the AV and/or its effective date within 30 days from the date of the Valuation Notice.
As for the property tax rate, we won’t go into too much detail here, and you can easily visit the IRAS website which outlines the various rates for properties. In short, progressive tax rates are applied to your AV, broken up into several bands. So for example, the first $12,000 of your AV has a 0% rate, next $28,000 a 4% rate, next $10,000 a 6% rate, and so on.
Expect higher tax rates for 2026
Unlike last year, we will probably see a higher property tax on our bills, even with the current rebates. Given the direction that the market has been heading for the past few quarters, rents have been steadily increasing due to higher demand as well as a red-hot property market, which in turn has raised the Annual Value of properties.
Just exactly how much would the increase be? Well, with the rebates, those living in 3-room and larger HDB flats will see an average tax increase of about $2 to $3 per month, while half of private property owner-occupiers will see a tax increase of less than $6 per month, after the PT rebate. The rest will see higher tax increases, and these are generally higher-value private properties that probably won’t benefit as much from the rebates.
Read our other articles here:
- Most beautiful old condos in Singapore
- 2025 Condo launch guide
- Should you upgrade from an HDB to a condo
Cover image adapted from: Danist Soh on Unsplash
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