Singapore capital gains tax: none, but trading is income
Singapore has no capital gains tax, so the tax on your investment gain is zero. Shares, crypto and property alike, a gain of a capital nature is not income and IRAS does not tax it. What matters instead is whether your selling looks like trading, and property carries stamp duties on the transaction, not the gain.
Verified as of 2026-09-17 against IRAS.
Current rules
Taxes on selling shares, crypto and property in Singapore
What you pay when you sell
| Asset | Tax on the gain |
|---|---|
| Shares and ETFs (long-term investment) | Nothing. Capital gains are not income |
| Crypto (long-term investment) | Nothing |
| Property (your home or an investment property) | Nothing on the gain |
| Frequent, systematic trading | Taxed as income at the resident scale (0% to 24%) |
| Residential property sold early | Seller's Stamp Duty on the price by holding year (nil after 3 or 4 years; see the table below) |
Seller's Stamp Duty on residential property (a transaction tax, not a gains tax)
| Holding period | Acquired to 3 Jul 2025 | Acquired from 4 Jul 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Sold within 1 year | 12% | 16% |
| Sold in the 2nd year | 8% | 12% |
| Sold in the 3rd year | 4% | 8% |
| Sold in the 4th year | Nil | 4% |
| Sold after | Nil | Nil |
Resident income-tax scale YA2026 (only if your trading counts as income)
| Taxable income | Marginal rate |
|---|---|
| $0 – $20,000 | 0% |
| $20,000 – $30,000 | 2% |
| $30,000 – $40,000 | 3.5% |
| $40,000 – $80,000 | 7% |
| $80,000 – $120,000 | 11.5% |
| $120,000 – $160,000 | 15% |
| $160,000 – $200,000 | 18% |
| $200,000 – $240,000 | 19% |
| $240,000 – $280,000 | 19.5% |
| $280,000 – $320,000 | 20% |
| $320,000 – $500,000 | 22% |
| $500,000 – $1,000,000 | 23% |
| $1,000,000 and over | 24% |
Figures are from the official records retrieved 2026-09-17; each table links back to the authority page above.
Questions
Singapore capital gains tax questions
Does Singapore have a capital gains tax?
No. A gain of a capital nature is not income under the Income Tax Act, and no statute levies a tax on it. Whether you sell shares after a week or a house after twenty years, the gain itself is not taxed. There is no inheritance tax either.
So why do people say Singapore taxes some gains?
Because trading profits are income. If your disposals look like a trade or business, frequent and systematic, with short holding periods and margin financing, IRAS treats the profits as income and taxes them at the resident scale, up to 24% at the top. Long-term investors do not cross that line.
What does selling property cost, then?
Stamp duties, not a gains tax. Sell a residential property early and Seller's Stamp Duty takes a slice of the price by holding year: 12%, 8% then 4% over three years for property acquired up to 3 July 2025, and 16%, 12%, 8% then 4% over four years for property acquired from 4 July 2025. The buyer pays Buyer's Stamp Duty and possibly Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty, which is what makes Singapore property transactions expensive, not the gain.
Is crypto taxed in Singapore?
Not as a capital gain. Long-term holders pay nothing when they dispose. Trading crypto as a business, or receiving it as payment for services, creates income that is taxed. Exchanges do not withhold anything on your sales.
What exactly does IRAS say about investment gains?
Singapore has no capital gains tax: gains of a capital nature are not income and are not taxed, whatever the asset (shares, crypto, property). IRAS: https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/individual-income-tax/basics-of-individual-income-tax/what-is-taxable-what-is-not/gains-from-sale-of-property-shares-and-financial-instruments
How does IRAS decide a gain is really income?
Whether a gain is capital or income decides everything: gains from trading as a trade or business (frequent, systematic, short holding, financed on margin) are taxable as income at resident rates (0-24%); long-term investment gains are not.
What stamp duties apply to property?
Property disposals carry Seller's Stamp Duty instead, on the price by holding year. TWO schedules coexist: properties acquired (OTP exercised) 11 Mar 2017 to 3 Jul 2025: 12% / 8% / 4% over 3 years (nil after); acquired on or after 4 July 2025: 16% / 12% / 8% / 4% over 4 years (nil after). Source: https://www.iras.gov.sg/taxes/stamp-duty/for-property/selling-or-disposing-property/seller's-stamp-duty-(ssd)-for-residential-property
Is there an inheritance or estate duty?
There is no inheritance or estate duty either.