Buying Guide · Buried Fine Print

The ABSD Remission 6-Month Clock: What Upgraders Often Miss

The ABSD refund for married couples sounds simple: buy your next home, sell your current one within 6 months, get the ABSD refunded. In practice, the clock starts from a date that catches people off guard, and IRAS states that it will not extend the 6-month timeline.

For the base rate table and overall ABSD mechanics, see our ABSD guide. This article focuses specifically on the refund deadline and where it goes wrong.

When the clock actually starts

You must sell your first property within 6 months after:

• the purchase date of the second property, if it was a completed property at the time of purchase, or
• the issue date of the Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) or Certificate of Statutory Completion (CSC), whichever is earlier, if the second property was uncompleted at the time of purchase.

IRAS defines the purchase date as the date the Option to Purchase (OTP) is accepted, or the date of the Sale and Purchase Agreement, or the date of transfer, where the first two do not apply.

This is the single biggest source of confusion. Buyers who purchase an uncompleted new-launch condo often assume their 6 months started at the OTP. For an uncompleted property it did not: the 6 months run from TOP or CSC, whichever comes first. That can work in your favour, but it is also a hard date once it arrives.

What triggers outright rejection

IRAS's published position is that the 6-month sale timeline, together with the other conditions, must be adhered to, and that the refund application will be rejected if any of the conditions is not met. IRAS also states that an extension of the six-month timeline will not be acceded to. The only extension IRAS has ever given was a one-off COVID-19 measure for couples who bought on or before 1 June 2020.

It is the date of sale of the first property that counts, not the date the sale completes. IRAS defines the date of sale as the date the buyer accepts the OTP, or the date of the Sale and Purchase Agreement signed by the buyer, or the date of transfer, where those do not apply. A sale that falls outside the window means the full ABSD paid is forfeited, not a prorated amount.

The sequencing trap

Because the deadline is unforgiving, couples who buy their next home first and only then start marketing their current one are taking on real timing risk. Finding a buyer, agreeing a price and having the buyer accept the OTP all have to happen inside the window, and the time this takes varies with the market and the property. IRAS itself encourages couples to start marketing the first property early at realistic prices, and to consider securing a buyer before buying the next property.

The safer sequence, where it's financially workable, is securing a buyer who has accepted an OTP on the current property before exercising the OTP on the new one, rather than relying on the 6-month window as a safety net.

Estimate your current property's realistic sale proceeds and timeline with PropLeh's HDB Sale Proceeds Calculator.

Who qualifies, and what has to be sold

The refund applies to married couples where at least one spouse is a Singapore Citizen, buying a second residential property jointly in their own names. IRAS lists these conditions:

• Neither spouse owned an interest in more than one residential property at the date of purchase of the second property.
• ABSD has been paid on the second property.
• The first residential property (co-owned or separately owned) is sold within the 6-month window above. Selling a different property the couple happens to also own does not satisfy the condition.
• The couple remains married and there is no change of ownership in the second property at the time the first is sold.
• The couple has not bought or acquired any other residential property since buying the second property.
• The refund application is made within 6 months after the date of sale of the first property.

For purchase forms submitted on or after 2 July 2023, IRAS refunds ABSD automatically within 6 weeks of stamping the sale of the first property, provided the couple declared their intention to sell and claim the refund in the e-Stamping form. Older forms need a refund application through the myTax Portal.

Worked example

A couple exercises the OTP on a new-launch condo (uncompleted) on 1 March 2026, paying ABSD upfront on the purchase. The project's TOP is issued on 15 December 2027 (and it is the earlier of TOP and CSC). Because the property was uncompleted at purchase, their 6-month clock runs from the TOP date, not the 2026 purchase date, giving them until roughly mid-June 2028 to sell their first property (by the date of sale as defined above).

Contrast this with a couple who buys a completed resale condo on 1 March 2026. Their clock runs from that purchase date, giving them until around 1 September 2026 to sell.

Illustrative dates only. Confirm your own TOP/CSC date and purchase date with your lawyer.

FAQ

Related guides

• ABSD Refund for Single Seniors Aged 55+
• Buyer's Stamp Duty (BSD) Singapore: Rates & Calculation
• What Counts as Residential Property for Stamp Duty?

Figures current as of October 2026. This remission scheme's conditions have been refined over time; always verify your specific trigger date and eligibility against the live IRAS page or with IRAS directly before relying on it for a major purchase decision.