ABSD Remission for Married Couples: 6-Month Rule

Hand holding house keys over model houses — Buy first, sell within six months, and the ABSD comes back. Photo: Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash

At a glance

ABSD on a second home: 20% for citizens, 30% for PRs (rates since 27 April 2023)
Who qualifies: Married couple, at least one citizen spouse, buying in both names only
Sale deadline: 6 months from purchase, or from the earlier of TOP or CSC if uncompleted
Refund: Automatic within 6 weeks of stamping the sale (sales stamped from 2 July 2023)
Extensions: None granted

The short answer

A married couple can buy their next home before selling the current one and still avoid ABSD, as long as at least one spouse is a Singapore citizen, they buy the new home jointly in both names only, and they sell the first home within 6 months. They pay the 20% ABSD upfront and IRAS refunds it once the sale is stamped. Miss the deadline by a day and the money is gone. We checked these rules against IRAS on 14 October 2026.

Who qualifies for the remission

IRAS sets out the conditions for a joint purchase of a second residential property. All of them must be met:

At least one spouse is a Singapore citizen.
The new home is bought in the couple’s names only. Adding a parent or child to the title breaks the remission.
Neither spouse owned more than one residential property on the date of the new purchase.
ABSD was paid on the new home.
The first home, whether owned jointly or by one spouse, is sold within 6 months.
The couple is still married, and the new home’s ownership is unchanged, when the first home is sold.
The couple has not bought any other residential property since buying the new home.

An engaged couple does not qualify, so register the marriage before you sign. A third home is never refunded.

When the 6 months start and end

The clock depends on whether the new home is finished.

New home	6 months run from
Completed (resale condo, landed home)	The purchase date: when you exercise the option, or sign the sale agreement
Uncompleted (new launch)	The earlier of the TOP or CSC date

The sale of the first home counts on the date your buyer exercises the option to purchase, or signs the sale agreement if there is no option. Legal completion can come later. IRAS does not grant extensions.

MOF has said the 6 months mirror HDB’s own rule, which gives flat buyers 6 months to dispose of other property. For a new launch, the window opens years after you sign, which lets an HDB owner live in the flat while the condo is built. HDB lets households with a citizen owner keep their flat after the MOP while they buy private property, so this is allowed.

How SC and PR couples are treated

ABSD on a joint purchase is charged at the highest rate that applies to any buyer.

Couple	First home together	Second home (both already own one)	Refund if first home sold in 6 months
Citizen and citizen	0%	20%	Yes
Citizen and PR	5%, remitted to 0% on application	30% (the PR’s rate)	Yes
PR and PR	5%	30%	No

For a citizen and PR couple who co-own their flat, the PR spouse is buying a second property, so the higher 30% applies to the whole price. The refund still works because the couple includes a citizen. If only the citizen owns the first home and the PR owns nothing, the rate is the citizen’s 20%. Our ABSD guide has the full rate table.

How the refund works on IRAS

You pay ABSD in full within 14 days of signing the option or agreement for the new home. Your conveyancing lawyer stamps the document and pays through the e-Stamping Portal.

For sales stamped on or after 2 July 2023, you do not need to apply. IRAS refunds the ABSD automatically within 6 weeks of the stamping of the sale of the first property. Earlier cases had to apply on the e-Stamping Portal, under “Request” and “Apply for Refund”, within 6 months of the sale date. If the refund has not arrived after 6 weeks, ask your lawyer to check with IRAS.

Buyer’s stamp duty is not refunded. Only the ABSD comes back.

Worked example: an HDB couple buys a resale condo

Wei Ming and Hui Ling are both citizens. They co-own a 4-room HDB flat that is past its MOP, and they buy a completed resale condo for S$1.8 million in both names.

2 November 2026: they exercise the option on the condo. That is the purchase date.
By 16 November 2026: they pay buyer’s stamp duty of S$59,600 and ABSD of S$360,000 (20% of S$1.8 million).
2 November 2026 to 2 May 2027: the window to sell the flat. Their flat buyer must exercise the HDB option to purchase by 2 May 2027.
10 March 2027: the buyer exercises. The sale is stamped soon after.
By late April 2027: IRAS refunds the S$360,000, within 6 weeks of the stamping.

If the buyer had exercised on 3 May 2027, the couple would not have got the S$360,000 back. On these numbers, one day late costs S$360,000.

Had they bought a new launch instead, with TOP on 1 June 2029, they could have stayed in the flat and sold it by 1 December 2029.

Paying for both homes in the gap

The ABSD is cash or CPF that leaves your account months before the refund, on top of the condo’s downpayment. Many couples cover the gap with a bridging loan, repaid from the flat sale. Work out first whether you can carry both mortgages if the flat takes the full 6 months to sell.

Most HDB owners sell first and avoid the risk altogether. Our HDB to condo upgrading guide compares the two orders, and the stamp duty calculator shows the cash you need upfront.

This page is general information from IRAS’s published rules, checked on 14 October 2026. Confirm your own case with your conveyancing lawyer before you sign.

Common questions

Can we get the ABSD refunded if we sell our HDB flat after buying a condo?

Yes, if you are married, at least one of you is a Singapore citizen, you bought the condo jointly in both names only, and your flat is sold within 6 months of the condo purchase date. For a condo still under construction, the 6 months run from the earlier of its TOP or CSC date.

What counts as the date we sold our first home?

IRAS takes the date your buyer exercises the option to purchase, or the date the sale and purchase agreement is signed if there is no option. Completion can come later. What matters is that the buyer has exercised by your deadline.

Do we have to apply for the refund?

Not for sales stamped on or after 2 July 2023. IRAS refunds the ABSD automatically within 6 weeks of the stamping of the sale of the first property. Older cases had to apply through the e-Stamping Portal within 6 months of the sale.

Can IRAS extend the 6-month deadline?

No. IRAS says extensions are not granted. The only extension was a one-off COVID-19 measure for homes bought on or before 1 June 2020. Market the first home early and price it realistically.

Does the remission work if only one of us buys the new home?

No. IRAS has confirmed that a second home bought in one spouse's sole name does not qualify, even if the jointly owned first home is sold within 6 months. The new home must be bought by the couple, in their names only.

Can a PR couple get the ABSD refunded?

No. The remission needs at least one Singapore citizen spouse. Two PRs buying a second home pay 30% ABSD and get nothing back when they sell the first.

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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources on 14 October 2026.