Introduction
At different stages in your life and journey in property ownership, the thought of transferring your property as a gift to your child or spouse would have popped out in your mind.
Having worked with several clients, we observed that, beyond the legitimate cause of succession planning, many of our clients wanted to transfer their property as a gift to avoid additional buyer stamp duties.
The notion is that by transferring their ownership in the current property to their spouse or child, they will be able to free up their names to purchase the second property without ABSD.
While this is true, transferring of property ownership as a gift is indeed one of two ways to decouple a property in Singapore. There are several misconception and disadvantages that comes with it.
Focus of this article
In this article, we will specifically address the 5 key disadvantages of transferring property as a gift. We hope to clarify some of this common misconception that are commonly held by readers looking to transfer property as a gift to avoid ABSD, when purchasing their second property.
As a side note, we have written a seperate article that details the specific steps on “How to transfer share in property to spouse by gifting ?“.
A little bit about ourselves
We are a team of property investors turned full time realtors. Having navigated the challenges of purchasing our second property without ABSD, we now specialise in helping our clients plot out the best strategy to purchase their properties while minimising ABSD.
If reading is not your thing and you would like to clarify your doubts swiftly, feel free to drop us a text, we will be happy to clarify your doubts.
What does it mean to transfer property as a gift ?
Transferring of property as a gift meant the transfer of a property’s ownership from one party to the other without a financial consideration.
Technically there are two ways to transfer a property as a gift
- Transferring of property ownership by way of gift, during a person’s lifetime, also known as inter vivos gift
- Or transferring of property ownership when one passes away via a will
In this article, we will be focusing our attention on the first method of transfer of a property as a gift.
Requirement to fulfil in order to transfer property as a gift
Aside for the requirement stated above, there are additional criterias to fulfil if you are looking to transfer a HDB as a gift.
You would only be able to transfer the property to an immediate family member such as child, parent, spouse or sibling, who is 21 years old and above. And the family member must not be an existing owner or occupier of an EC, DBSS or BTO bought directly from developer or HDB.
Most importantly, due to a tightening of HDB Share transfer regulation in 2016. You are only permitted to transfer your share in a property under special circumstances such as divorce, marriage of children, demise of a owner or financial hardship.
Disadvantage #1 – You will incur buyer stamp duty when you transfer a property as a gift
A common misconception that many property owners have is that you can avoid stamp duties or pay a lower stamp duty of 0.2% on the property value, when you transfer a property as a gift.
That is not true, the fact is that the same prevailing buyer stamp duty rates will be applicable when you transfer a property as a gift.
Aside from buyer stamp duty, can you avoid Seller Stamp Duty by transferring property as a gift instead of decoupling ?
A common questions that many readers have on their minds. Aside from incurring buyer stamp duty, can I avoid seller stamp duty if I transfer share in a property as a gift to a spouse ?
Unfortunately, the answer is no, seller stamp duty will still be applicable if you transfer share of ownership in a property as a gift to your spouse.
*Article has been updated with the latest Seller Stamp Duty Rates as of 4 July 2025
| Holding Period Before Sale | SSD Rate (from 4 July 2025) |
| Up to 1 year | 16% |
| More than 1 year, up to 2 years | 12% |
| More than 2 years, up to 3 years | 8% |
| More than 3 years, up to 4 years | 4% |
| More than 4 years | No SSD payable |
What about the 5% Additional Buyer Stamp Duty, If I am a PR ? Can that be avoided if I were to transfer share of ownership as a gift to my spouse ?
Similarly, additional buyer stamp duty of 5% is to be levied if your spouse is a Singapore PR and is receiving share in the property as a gift from you.
Example – gifting existing share of property to spouse who is co-owner
Assuming your currently property is valued at 1.5mil and is held in 50-50 joint ownership with your spouse, you will have to pay a buyer stamp on the 50 percent share to be transferred to your spouse.
This will amount to $17,100.
Example – gifting entire property to child
If your intention is to give the entire property to the child, you would have to pay stamp on the entire $1.5 mil property. This will amount to $44,600.
Disadvantage #2 – The gift is voidable
Another disadvantage is that the property transaction that you had made to transfer the property to your child or spouse is voidable.
In the unfortunate case that you are bankrupted, the official assignor can apply to the court to under the Insolvancy, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018 to clawback the property and set it aside as part of the estate for repaying debtors.
The property will only be cleared of the clawback clause after fulfiling 3 year duration from the date of gifting, in accordance with the latest Insolvancy, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018.
Disadvantage #3 – Prospective buyers will avoid the property for the next 3 years (updated)
Inline with the possibility of the property being clawed back due to the Insolvancy Act. Prospective buyers will be avoiding the purchase of your property for fear of losing ownership of the property in the case of your bankruptcy.
Inline with the point shared above, prospective buyers will be steering clear from the property for the next 3 years.
During the purchase process, it is part of the buyer’s agent and buyer’s conveyancing lawyer due dilligence process to check SLA’s caveat, to review if there are any gifting endorsement being attached to the property.
If the duration have not surpass the 3 year duration from the date of gifting, it will be flagged out to the buyer.
Disadvantage #4 – Banks will not be willing to grant financing with the property as security
Aside from prospective buyers, banks will steer clear of your property as well.
You or your child will not be able to secure any financing using the property as collateral.
Bank’s reluctancy to extend loan to any property collateral still falling under the 3 year bankruptcy claw back time frame will result in your potential buyer not being able to secure a bank loan to purchase your property. They will have to purchase the property in full cash.
Disadvantage #5 – It is a capital intensive initiative
Lastly, as one of the requirement to transfer the property as a gift is to make sure that the property is free from debt.
It is a capital intensive initiative to fully redeem your property from loan and CPF, the funds could be put into better use.
For example, if your main objective is to acquire a 2nd property, a better option would be the consider a sell one buy two approach of you have significant funds on hand.
As a side note, if you are making plans to decouple and purchase your second property. Feel free to use the decoupling calculator to work out how much funds you need to decouple and how much proceeds you will get to purchase your second property.
Disadvantage #6 – You will have to discharge gifting party’s CPF
Aside from paying off any outstanding loan before gifting, you will have to refund all CPF utilised for the gifting party owning the property. This will ensure the property is unemcumbered by CPF board as well.
And the staying party would have to sign a statutory declaration to declare solvancy at the time of gifting.
With both outstanding loan and CPF out of the way, you will then be able to consider gifting as a option to conduct share transfer.
Disadvantage #7 – Not applicable to HDB flats
Unfortunately both gifting and decoupling by way of part purchase is not applicable to HDB flats owner. Since 2016, HDB has restricted share transfer by way of gift or sale to only 6 special circumstances like divorce, death, bankruptcy and etc.
Legal Disclaimer
Before we begin, a legal disclaimer. Please do not take this as legal advice, for official legal advice, please seek consultation from a qualified share transfer lawyer with experience in gifting property.
If you need contact for a share transfer lawyer, drop us a text and we will save you some time researching for one.
Final words
This marks the end of our article. We hope this article helps clarify some of the common misconceptions that property owners may have when attempting to transfer their property as a gift to avoid ABSD.
More Reads Pertaining Decoupling via Gifting Method
FAQ – Gifting Property
Can I give property to my son in Singapore?
Yes it is legal to transfer ownership of your property to your son, without a financial consideration. Assuming it is a private property, you would have to ensure that it is free from financial obligation, meaning you would have to pay up all outstanding debt and CPF used. If it is a HDB flat, you would have to adhere to additional criteria established by HDB and can also do some if you fall within the specific circumstances permitted for share transfer.
Can I transfer my condo to my wife?
Yes you can legally transfer your ownership in a private condo to your wife. There are technically two ways to do so. One would be to transfer the property via a gift, meaning you would transfer the property to your wife without a financial consideration. To do so you would have to repay all outstanding debt and CPF used in the property. The other way is to transfer by way of part purchase, where you would purchase your wife’s share in the property using a combination of cash, cpf and bank loan.
Is stamp duty payable for gifts?
Yes, you would have to incur buyer stamp duty on property that you are looking to transfer as a gift. The prevailing buyer stamp duty rates would be applicable, similar to any property purchase transaction in Singapore. It is a common misconception that you would be taxed at a reduced stamp duty rate for transferring property as a gift.
Can you gift a HDB flat ?
Yes, you are permitted to gift a HDB flat, but you and the gift recipient would have to satisfy the eligible criteria established by HDB. Some of the eligible criteria would be that the recipient would have to be an immediate family member, your child, spouse or parents. And you would have to fall within HDB’s stringent share transfer condition, which only permits share transfer due to divorce, marriage, financial hardship or demise of the owner.
I inherited a property when I was married. Does a inherited property becomes a matrimonial asset ?
No. Inherited property or property that have been receive by means of gifting, will not become a matrimonial asset. It will only be deem a matrimonial asset under two exception. 1) When the inherited property becomes the matrimonial home that the couple live in. 2) When substantial improvement has been made to the asset by the spouse.
