Decoupling Is No Longer a Property Hack: What the Courts and IRAS Have Made Clear

Now we have now extra clarification on decoupling, and it’s not the easy hack many people have been informed to assume.

For a lot of the ‘00s to ‘10s, decoupling was positioned as a property hack to keep away from paying Further Patrons Stamp Responsibility (ABSD). The idea is straightforward: One partner transfers their share of the house to the opposite, and thus not owns property. This then permits them to go off and purchase a property beneath their very own identify, with no ABSD, and the household successfully finally ends up with two properties.

This even was once attainable for HDB flat homeowners, proper up until 2016 (from that time on, decoupling for HDB flats has solely been allowed for distinctive circumstances, corresponding to divorce).

However with latest circumstances and commentary from the courts and IRAS, the image has develop into a lot sharper; and decoupling is not a neat workaround. Authorities are making clear that it’s just for a real switch…