For Singaporeans

How tax residency works

IRAS, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, treats you as tax resident if you are a citizen or permanent resident who normally resides in Singapore apart from temporary absences, or a foreigner who stays or works here for 183 days or more in a calendar year. Residents pay progressive rates from 0% to 24%.

Singapore taxes income earned in Singapore. Foreign income received by resident individuals is generally exempt unless it comes through a partnership, and there is no capital gains tax, wealth tax or estate duty. A Singaporean moving abroad therefore gains little on tax and is usually moving for family, career, cost of living or a Plan B.

Non residents are taxed only on Singapore income: employment income at 15% or resident rates, whichever is higher, and most other income at 24%.

• Citizens and permanent residents: resident while Singapore remains your normal home. A genuine move abroad, with your home and working life there, makes you non resident.
• Foreigners: 183 days or more in a calendar year, with concessions for stays that straddle two years or last three consecutive years.
• Tax treaties: where two countries both treat you as resident, Singapore’s tax treaty with the other country decides.

Leaving properly

For citizens there is no exit tax and no departure clearance. The formal steps concern your tax file, National Service, property and CPF.

1. 01

   Settle your last tax year

   File your return for the year you leave and give IRAS your overseas address. Citizens do not need tax clearance; employers file Form IR21 only for employees who are not citizens, including permanent residents leaving for good.

2. 02

   Check National Service rules

   Male citizens and permanent residents who are liable for National Service need an exit permit for longer trips: from age 13 to 16.5 for stays of 3 months or more, and as NSmen, the reservists who have completed full time service, for 12 months or more.

3. 03

   Decide on your HDB flat

   Citizens can keep a Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat while abroad, subject to HDB rules on renting it out. If you later give up citizenship, HDB reviews your eligibility and you may have to sell or return the flat.

4. 04

   Keep CPF in order

   Your CPF account stays open while you remain a citizen. Keep your contact and bank details current so you can manage withdrawals and payouts from abroad.

5. 05

   Establish your new residency

   Secure residency, and where relevant tax residency, in your new country, and keep records of the move in case a treaty question arises.

Exit tax, property and investments

There is no exit tax and no capital gains tax, so leaving does not trigger tax on your shares, funds or property. Gains are taxed only where IRAS treats them as trading income, for example from frequent buying and selling.

Property carries stamp duties rather than income tax. Residential property bought on or after 4 July 2025 attracts seller’s stamp duty if sold within 4 years. If you ever give up citizenship, future residential purchases carry additional buyer’s stamp duty at the foreigner rate of 60%.

Rent from a Singapore property stays taxable here after you leave, at non resident rates once you are no longer resident. A Singapore company is still taxed in Singapore, but if its board effectively runs it from abroad it may lose resident status and the certificate of residence it needs for treaty benefits.

CPF and retirement

CPF is Singapore’s compulsory savings system for retirement, housing and healthcare. Citizens cannot withdraw it simply by moving abroad. You keep your account and its interest, and access it under the normal rules: partial withdrawals from 55 and monthly payouts from CPF LIFE, the national lifetime annuity, from 65.

The account closes only when you are no longer a citizen or permanent resident. Since 1 April 2024 anyone who renounces must close the account and transfer the savings; if they do not, it closes automatically the following month and stops earning CPF interest. Participation in MediShield Life, the national health insurance plan, CPF LIFE and other CPF schemes ends at the same time.

Renouncing therefore swaps CPF interest rates, MediShield Life cover and a lifetime income for a lump sum. That trade should be weighed with everything else, never used as the reason to renounce.

Dual citizenship

Singapore does not allow dual citizenship for adults. Under Article 134 of the Constitution, the Government may deprive you of citizenship if, as an adult, you voluntarily acquire another citizenship, or claim and exercise rights reserved for citizens of another country.

Children born with two citizenships must eventually choose. Those who became Singapore citizens by descent or registration take the Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty after turning 21 and before their 22nd birthday to keep Singapore citizenship.

Renouncing is possible from age 21 once you hold another citizenship. ICA, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, may refuse a male citizen who has enjoyed the privileges of citizenship and still has National Service obligations, and men who leave without serving can face prosecution if they return.

This shapes our advice. A citizenship by investment passport would cost you Singapore citizenship, and the Singapore passport already offers some of the widest visa free access in the world. For almost every Singaporean the realistic fit is a residency program that adds a second place to live, bank and build a business, while keeping Singapore citizenship.