Proposed Property Tax Act changes move into public consultation stage

Feedback requested for potentially major revisions.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced that it is conducting a public consultation on the draft Property Tax (Amendment) Bill 2013 from 25 July to 14 August 2013, and invites the public to give feedback on the Bill.

The proposed amendments to the Property Tax Act (PTA) mainly relate to the changes announced in the 2013 Budget Statement. The key proposed changes include the removal of property tax refund for unoccupied residential and non-residential properties with effect from 1 January 2014. MOF said the removal "will align the treatment with the policy intent of property tax, which is to tax property wealth rather than use, and ensure consistency in the tax treatment of all vacant properties."

MOF also plans to introduce the progressive Property Tax Rate for residential properties from 1 January 2014. The Property Tax (Amendment) Bill 2013 also provides a refinement to existing tax administration arising from on-going reviews of our property tax system by extendingthe deadlines for filing objections and appeals on property tax assessments from the current 21 days to 30 days.

The public can access the detailed consultation documents for the draft Property Tax (Amendment) Bill 2013 on the Ministry of Finance's website (www.mof.gov.sg) and the REACH consultation portal (www.reach.gov.sg). Respondents may send their comments to the Ministry of Finance directly via the website, email, fax or post.