SINGAPORE (Apr 2): Non-residential property owners were to receive a property tax rebate of up to 100% for the tax payable in 2020, as part of the FY2020 Budget and Supplementary Budget. Now, they could soon be required to pass on this property tax rebate in full to their tenants.
According the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the government will introduce new legislation at the next sitting of Parliament to place an obligation on property owners to pass on to their tenants the property tax rebate attributable to the rented property.
For most properties, the 100% property tax rebate works out to more than one month of rent. This was aimed at helping businesses cope with the impact from Covid-19.
In announcing the relief measures, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat had urged property owners to pass on the property tax rebate to their tenants by reducing rentals.
“However, the government has also received feedback that other property owners have not yet passed on the rebate to their tenants. The proposed provisions ensure that property owners who have not passed on the rebate will do so,” MOF said in a statement on Thursday.
Subject to Parliament’s approval, the proposed provisions and subsequent subsidiary legislation will require the property owner to pass the rebate received in full to the tenant, and in a timely manner according to a prescribed timeline.
The new legislation will also prohibit property owners from imposing conditions when passing on the property tax rebate.
A Valuation Review Panel, comprising members from the Valuation Review Board constituted under the Property Tax Act, will adjudicate disputes between the property owner and the tenant.
“Property owners who fail to fully pass on the property tax rebate attributable to the rented property unconditionally to the tenant concerned, without reasonable excuse, will be guilty of an offence,” MOF said.
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