Owning Guide

Rental Income Tax in Singapore: What Landlords Declare and Can Deduct

Rent you receive from a Singapore property is taxable income, but you are taxed on the net amount after allowable expenses, not on the gross rent. For residential landlords, IRAS offers a simple option that deducts 15% of the rent as deemed expenses. Here is what counts as rent, what you can deduct, and how to choose between the two methods.

What counts as rental income

IRAS treats rental income as the full amount of rent and related payments you receive, which includes:

• Rent for the premises, plus any maintenance charges and rent for furniture and fittings
• Forfeited rental deposits (if the deposit is forfeited for damage, you may claim the repair cost)
• Rent from letting a room while you still live in the home
• Amounts recovered from insurance on the rented-out property

Rent is taxable from the date it is due and payable, not the date it is paid. If a tenant owes you October to December 2025 rent but pays in January 2026, that rent belongs to Year of Assessment 2026 (income of calendar year 2025).

Who is taxed: sole and joint owners

A sole owner is taxed on 100% of the rent, even if a third party collects it. Joint owners are each taxed according to their legal share of the property, regardless of who receives the rent or who paid for the property. Rental losses are split the same way.

Choosing how to claim expenses

For tenanted residential property, you have two options:

1. Deemed expenses: 15% of gross rent, which IRAS pre-fills in your tax form. You can also claim the mortgage interest on the loan used to buy the property. You do not need to keep records of other expenses, but keep the mortgage interest documents for at least 5 years.
2. Actual expenses: claim what you really spent on allowable items. Keep tenancy agreements, bank statements, invoices and receipts for at least 5 years.

If you have more than one tenanted residential property, you must use the same method for all of them. You cannot take 15% on one and actual expenses on another. The 15% option does not apply if you had no deductible expense other than mortgage interest, if the rent is earned through a partnership or a trust, or for non-residential property (such as shops or offices), where only actual expenses can be claimed.

Which expenses you can deduct

Expenses can only be claimed for the period the property was rented out or genuinely marketed between tenants. Interest on a loan taken against one property to buy a different property is deductible only against the property you bought.

Worked examples

Both examples follow IRAS's published illustrations.

Whole home let for the full year

Gross rent is $5,000 a month ($60,000), mortgage interest is $12,000, and other deductible expenses (property tax, fire insurance, maintenance) are $7,500.

Here the 15% method gives the lower taxable income. If your actual expenses had been above $9,000, the actual method would have won, so it is worth comparing each year.

One bedroom sublet in a 3-bedroom flat

You live in a flat with 3 bedrooms and sublet one at $600 a month ($7,200 a year). Total deductible expenses for the whole flat are $3,000, of which $1,200 is mortgage interest. Expenses are apportioned by the number of rooms let (1 of 3).

How rental income is taxed

Net rental income is added to your other income for the year and taxed at progressive resident rates, after your reliefs and deductions. From Year of Assessment 2024 these run from 0% on the first $20,000 of chargeable income up to a top rate of 24% above $1 million. So the tax on your rent depends on your overall income, not on the rent alone. Non-residents are taxed under different rules, which this guide does not cover.

Rental losses

If your allowable expenses exceed your rent, the loss cannot be set against your salary or other income and cannot be carried forward. As an administrative concession, IRAS lets you offset the rental loss of one property against the rental profit of another in the same year, provided all the properties were let at market rates.

Filing and paperwork

• Declare gross rent and deductible expenses for each property under "Other Income: Rent from property" in your Income Tax Return. IRAS pre-fills details from last year's return and e-Stamping records, but you remain responsible for the correct figures.
• Your tenancy agreement must be stamped. IRAS says it should be stamped within 14 days after signing in Singapore. By default the tenant pays stamp duty on a tenancy, unless the agreement says otherwise. Stamping on IRAS's portal also tells IRAS about the letting for property tax purposes.
• Whole-home letting ends your owner-occupier property tax rates from the date of letting. Letting a room while you live there does not.
• Not declaring rent, or declaring it incorrectly, can lead to penalties. IRAS may reduce or waive penalties if you disclose a mistake voluntarily within one year of the filing deadline.

HDB owners: approval comes first

Tax is only half the picture for HDB owners. To rent out spare bedrooms you need HDB's approval before the tenancy starts (a $9 fee per bedroom applies), and the flat must be a 3-room or bigger. Renting out a whole flat has separate eligibility rules, including the Minimum Occupation Period. See what your options are after MOP.

FAQ

Related guides

• Renting Out Your Whole HDB Flat: Rules and Quota
• Is Profit From Selling Property Taxable in Singapore?
• Property Tax Singapore: Owner-Occupier vs Non-Owner

Figures current as of October 2026. Tax rules, rates and deemed-expense percentages can change, so check IRAS before filing. This guide is general information only and is not tax, legal or financial advice; your tax depends on your full circumstances, so consider speaking to IRAS or a qualified tax adviser, especially if you have several properties, joint owners or a non-resident status.