Singapore has no inheritance tax. Estate duty, the tax Singapore used to charge on a dead person’s estate, is gone: the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) says it was removed for deaths on and after 15 February 2008. Heirs pay no tax simply for inheriting, whether they receive a flat, shares or a family company.
Other rules still apply: stamp duty, income tax on what inherited assets earn, intestacy, Muslim law and Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings. This guide covers each from official Singapore sources.
Is there inheritance tax or estate duty in Singapore?
No. Estate duty was a tax on the estate of the person who died, not on the heirs. Its removal turns on the date of death, not the date the estate is settled.
Is there a gift tax in Singapore?
We found no gift tax on the official pages we opened. Gifts of property still cost money: IRAS says buyer’s stamp duty, and additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) where it applies, is payable on a gift, worked out on the property’s market value. So giving a flat to a child in your lifetime can cost stamp duty that a will would not.
Do heirs pay stamp duty on inherited property?
Usually not. According to IRAS, stamp duty is not payable when property passes to beneficiaries by assent (the executor’s document handing an asset to the heir) under a will, the Intestate Succession Act or Muslim law of inheritance, whether the heir is a person, a company or a trust.
IRAS’s answers add two points:
- The next purchase. An inherited home counts towards your property count when ABSD is worked out on your next home purchase.
- Selling later. For seller’s stamp duty, the holding period runs from when the deceased first acquired the property, not from the death.
Transfers between heirs are a different matter. Once the heirs own the property, moving a share from one to another is, in our reading, an ordinary transfer: IRAS says buyer’s stamp duty, and ABSD where it applies, is payable when a property interest is transferred, worked out on the share that moves.
Yearly property tax continues: IRAS calls it a tax on the property’s value, with lower rates for owner-occupied homes.
How is income from inherited assets taxed?
During administration, the executor declares the estate’s income on Form T, and IRAS says beneficiaries must be told to declare their share in their own returns. Once the assets are in the heirs’ names, any rent, interest or dividends fall under the ordinary income tax rules for the new owner.
Selling is different. IRAS states that Singapore does not tax gains from selling assets that are capital in nature, whether foreign-sourced or Singapore-sourced. The exception, since 1 January 2024, is section 10L of the Income Tax Act 1947: it taxes gains from selling foreign assets that are received in Singapore by entities of cross-border groups without enough economic substance there. It does not apply to individuals. Gains that are revenue in nature, such as trading profits, are taxed as income.
What if the person who died was a foreigner or lived abroad?
IRAS ties estate duty’s removal only to the date of death, so in our reading it covers non-residents’ Singapore assets too. Who inherits is a separate question. Under section 4 of the Intestate Succession Act 1967, movable property, such as bank deposits and shares, is distributed under the law of the country where the person was domiciled. Immovable property in Singapore follows the Act wherever the person was domiciled.
The Judiciary adds that when a foreigner, including a Singapore permanent resident, inherits residential property such as a landed house, the executor must dispose of that interest within five years of the death. The executor can apply for more time, or the heir can apply to the Singapore Land Authority for approval to keep it under the Residential Property Act 1976.
The deceased’s home country may still tax the estate: the United Kingdom, for example, taxes the worldwide assets of long-term UK residents (broadly, resident in at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years).
Who inherits without a will in Singapore?
For non-Muslims, the Intestate Succession Act 1967 sets the shares:
- spouse only: everything to the spouse;
- spouse and children: half to the spouse, half shared equally by the children (a dead child’s children take that child’s share);
- children, no spouse: everything to the children;
- spouse and parents, no children: half to the spouse, half to the parents;
- parents only: everything to the parents;
- then, in order: brothers and sisters (or a dead sibling’s children), grandparents, uncles and aunts;
- nobody in these groups: the Government takes the estate.
Without a will, notes MoneySense, the government’s financial education site, the process can take longer and cost more in legal fees.
How do Muslim estates work?
The Intestate Succession Act does not apply to Muslims. Their estates follow Muslim law (Faraid), and the Syariah Court issues an inheritance certificate listing the heirs and their shares. Under Faraid, for example, a son receives as much as two daughters.
A Muslim can make a will, a wasiat. MUIS, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, says it can pass at most one third of the estate, and only to people who would not inherit under Faraid. Muslim families also plan with CPF and insurance nominations, joint tenancy and lifetime gifts (hibah); the Syariah Court’s brochure says nominated CPF savings are treated as a lifetime gift.
Why do CPF savings pass outside the will?
The CPF Board, which runs this social security savings scheme, says CPF savings are excluded from the estate and cannot be covered by a will. They go where a CPF nomination says. Without one, CPF pays them to the Public Trustee’s Office, which distributes them under the intestacy rules, or the inheritance certificate for Muslims, and deducts a fee from the money: 2.4% on the first SGD 1,000, falling in steps to 0.3% on amounts above SGD 500,000.
How is an estate administered in Singapore?
If there is a will, the executor it names applies for a grant of probate. If not, a beneficiary applies for letters of administration; for non-Muslim estates the spouse generally has priority. Both go to the Family Justice Courts.
For probate, the Judiciary says estates worth up to SGD 5 million go to the Family Courts and larger ones to the Family Division of the High Court. It asks for applications within six months of the death, expects processing to take about two to three months, and requires no lawyer. The Public Trustee may administer estates of up to SGD 50,000 if certain criteria are met, and CPF money, property held as joint tenants with no outstanding mortgage and some insurance policies with nominations can pass without a grant.
What does this mean for a family or a family office?
With no tax at death, planning in Singapore is about control and timing: who decides, who inherits, and how fast the family can act. A will replaces the fixed intestacy shares, but it does not reach CPF, nominated insurance or a home held as joint tenants, so these must match it.
For larger fortunes, our Singapore guide covers the single family office route. Its funds can apply for income tax exemption under sections 13O and 13U of the Income Tax Act 1947, an income tax relief, not an inheritance rule. For trusts, the Monetary Authority of Singapore says a private trust company is exempt from licensing under the Trust Companies Act 2005 but must engage a licensed trust company to meet MAS anti-money-laundering rules. Our holding structures explainer shows how these pieces fit together.
How does Singapore compare?
Hong Kong took the same path: its Inland Revenue Department says the Revenue (Abolition of Estate Duty) Ordinance 2005 ended estate duty for deaths on or after 11 February 2006. The United Kingdom charges inheritance tax of 40% above a GBP 325,000 nil-rate band, plus a GBP 175,000 residence nil-rate band when a home goes to children or grandchildren (HMRC, Budget 2025 rates for 2025-26 and 2026-27). Our page on inheritance tax in 37 family office locations sets them side by side.
A fair caveat
This guide reflects official pages as of 19 October 2026, and rules change. Several points turn on the facts: whether a gain is capital or revenue, where someone was domiciled, whether ABSD applies. Families with heirs or assets abroad must check each country’s rules.
Questions to bring to your advisors
Are our wills up to date, and do they match our CPF and insurance nominations and the way our home is held? Where is each of us domiciled, and which country’s law would govern our bank accounts and shares? Would a lifetime gift of property cost stamp duty that a bequest would not? Could a family member’s home country tax what they inherit from Singapore? These are questions to bring to your lawyers and tax advisors, not advice.
