Does Singapore have inheritance tax?
No. Singapore abolished estate duty for deaths on or after 15 February 2008 (Budget 2008), and it levies no inheritance tax, no gift tax, and no net-wealth tax. There is also no capital gains tax, with one caveat: under Section 10L (from 1 January 2024), gains on foreign assets sold by entities without economic substance in Singapore can be taxed. Your home country may still tax you — Taiwan taxes the worldwide estate of its domiciliaries at up to 20%, and Thailand has taxed inheritances above THB100m since 2016 — so the question is never only what Singapore does not tax, but what your family's own jurisdiction still does.
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What this means for an heir
If your family holds assets in or through Singapore, the transfer itself is not taxed by Singapore. What consumes estates here is not tax — it is process (probate can freeze accounts for months; see the probate page) and disputes (see the case files).
The caveat that catches families: Singapore not taxing the estate does not exempt anyone from home-country estate or inheritance tax. Domicile, not the location of the bank account, usually decides.
The numbers, dated
Estate duty: abolished for deaths on or after 15 February 2008. Capital gains: none, subject to the Section 10L foreign-asset caveat effective 1 January 2024. Top personal income tax rate: 24% from YA2024. These are the figures competitors most often publish stale — each carries its verification date on this page.
- 1IRAS — Estate Duty: 'Estate Duty has been removed for deaths on and after 15 February 2008' (re-read 13 Sep 2026)
- 2Income Tax Act 1947, s10L — gains from the sale of foreign assets (sales on or after 1 Jan 2024; excluded entities with adequate economic substance)
- 3IRAS — Individual income tax rates: resident rates from YA 2024, top rate 24% above S$1,000,000
- 4IRAS — Gains from sale of property, shares and financial instruments: generally not taxable