Historical 2020 relief and the source version
This is the Sixth Edition published on 30 January 2026, despite the older filename and cover remnant mentioning Fifth Edition. It explains relief for 1 January–31 December 2020 announced in the 26 March 2020 Resilience Budget and enhanced from the 18 February Budget. It does not announce a new rebate for 2026. It also explains passing the benefit to tenants under Part 6 of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act and the 2020 transfer-of-benefit regulations.
100%, 60% and 30% categories
The 100% categories cover registered-hotel rooms and function rooms, serviced apartments, the named MICE venues Suntec/EXPO/Changi Exhibition Centre, Changi Airport, the named cruise/ferry terminals, tourist attractions, shops and restaurants. Appendix A also includes retail-like services, warehouse retail, amusement/cinema/theatre, sports/social clubs, childcare/kindergartens, private schools/training, medical/care facilities, unregistered lodging/student hostels and qualifying purpose-built dormitories, plus connected parking and operational spaces. Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa receive 60%, not 100%. Other qualifying non-residential areas generally receive 30%.
Excluded uses and mixed developments
No rebate applies to vacant land or redevelopment land, residential use, exclusive resident facilities, corresponding residential parking or related spaces. Appendix B’s 30% examples include offices, industrial/science/business parks, factories, cold rooms, repair facilities, data/media centres, exchanges, workshops, depots, laboratories, self-storage, terminals, shipyards, ports, utilities/networks, concrete/aerospace facilities, fuel stations, warehouses, farms and non-qualifying dormitory types. Vacancy or owner use does not by itself disqualify listed non-residential premises. In a mixed development, shops/restaurants and relevant hotel areas can receive 100% while offices receive 30%; parking is allocated by qualifying gross floor area.
Automatic notices, refunds and GIRO
Owners did not need to claim. Notices were posted and viewable in myTax Portal; the stated enquiry date for missing notices was 31 May 2020. End-April refunds first offset outstanding taxes, then went to GIRO accounts or cheque; credits below S$15 carried forward. For 100% cases, April–December 2020 deductions stopped, though arrears could restart deductions in June. For 30% cases deductions paused May–August; for 60%, May–November. Appendix D’s factory example has tax S$2,520 after rebate, S$1,200 already paid and four September–December instalments of S$330.
Changed use, ownership and annual value
Change of use requires IRAS notification and time-apportioned recalculation. Transfer does not cause IRAS to divide the rebate between seller and buyer: this is a private conveyancing arrangement, and a buyer should check inherited pass-on obligations. Revised 2020 annual value changes the rebate. Appendix E’s shop-to-office example yields S$2,100 final tax and S$5,400 saving; office-to-residential yields S$3,110 tax and S$690 saving. Appendix F’s factory AV shift from S$36,000 to S$33,000 on 1 July yields S$2,415 tax and S$105 refund; a rise to S$39,000 yields S$2,625 and S$105 extra tax.
Who is a prescribed tenant
A prescribed lessee has an owner lease covering any time from 3 April to 31 December 2020, excluding accommodation purposes. A prescribed licensee needs an initial period of at least 12 months, excluding renewals, overlapping that window and not for accommodation. Diners, shoppers, parking customers, employees and service providers are excluded. An initial 12-month licence can qualify even with a later three-month renewal; an initial six-month licence followed by six more months does not qualify. Qualifying benefit calculations can include the relevant January–December occupation period, not merely the eligibility window. Pre-start fitting-out or post-expiry occupation outside the agreement is not counted.
Whole-property Option 1A
The owner sums monthly benefits for the tenant’s qualifying occupancy. Initially the formula is annual rebate ÷ 12 × occupied days ÷ days in that month. If circumstances change the rebate mid-month, split old and new portions, using each rebate allocated to its relevant period divided by the number of whole/fractional months in that period, multiplied by the relevant occupied-day fraction. Later months use the revised portion until another change. Appendix G’s S$9,000 example pays S$3,362.90 for January–15 May; full-year occupancy receives S$9,000.
Whole-property Option 2A
Instead, an owner may transfer the entire rebate to the prescribed tenant on 3 April 2020; if none, to the first qualifying tenant from 4 April–31 July. If neither exists only Option 1A applies. Appendix G contrasts a S$1,080 original rebate with S$1,009.35 after an August change: Option 1A gives tenant B S$778.65, including the departed tenant’s redistributed portion, and C S$150; Option 2A transfers S$1,080 to B by 31 July and no later benefit to C. A later reduction does not itself create another payment obligation in that example.
Part-property Option 1B and net rent
Use the same option for all separately let parts. Option 1B monthly benefit is net rent × 10% × rebate percentage × occupied-day fraction. Net rent includes turnover-based amounts and repair, insurance, upkeep and owner property-tax charges; it excludes owner-provided services such as cleaning, waste disposal and promotion, and GST. If turnover rent is unknown at the payment deadline, use the preceding month’s determined amount. If accumulated payments reach the property rebate, allocate the remaining balance proportionately among that month’s tenants.
Part-property Option 2B and caps
For 100% or 60% rebate parts, transfer at least 1.2 × average monthly net rent; for 30%, at least 0.36 × that average. Select the 3 April tenant or first qualifying tenant through 31 July; otherwise use 1B. Average rent uses the relevant tenancy months before starting the pass-on, with short periods scaled appropriately. The source’s S$1,000/1,200/1,000/800/500 average is S$900, giving S$1,080. Where total computed sums exceed the property rebate, apportion by the calculated shares: S$3,000 and S$2,500 claims against S$5,000 produce S$2,727.27 and S$2,272.73.
Departed tenants and later increases
Under 1A/1B, amounts attributable to specified tenants who left between 1 January and before 3 April are redistributed to eligible tenants overlapping 3 April–30 June by their tenancy days in that period. The S$9,000 example redistributes S$2,250 to B and C in a 47:11 ratio, giving S$1,823.28 and S$426.72; a November newcomer gets none of that amount. Any later positive rebate change must also be passed on, regardless of option or previous payment.
Payment methods, deadlines and old arrangements
Permitted methods are cash payments or offsets/reductions of rent due on or after 3 April, excluding arrears, singly or in instalments. For 1A/1B notices before 1 June: January–June benefits by 31 July, July–December by 31 December. Notices from 1 June to before 1 November: first-half amount within 60 days, second half by 31 December; notices from 1 November: both within 60 days. For 2A/2B and redistributed former-tenant amounts: notices before 1 June mean 31 July, later notices 60 days. Agreed instalments can extend if agreement and first payment meet the deadline. Pre-3-April transfers/agreements have special recognition, but any positive unpassed balance remains payable. These are historical deadlines.
Information, records and dispute route
Pass-on must be unconditional; new detrimental lease terms are void except the specified pre-3-April agreements. Provide amount, method, timing and regulatory option, and on request relevant notices and prior payments. Cash-grant/rent-waiver information must also be disclosed where applicable. Improper information can attract a fine up to S$1,000. Failure to pass on or keep required records without reasonable excuse can attract up to S$5,000; records had to remain available through 31 December 2023. Panel disputes generally had a 31 December 2021 deadline, with specified 2021-notice extensions, and a 21-day High Court appeal on law or mixed law/fact. These expiry dates must not be presented as new application windows.
Appendices C–F: numerical checks
Appendix C’s S$90,000-AV shop saves S$9,000 and owes zero. A hotel with S$4 million AV has S$387,400 rebate and S$12,600 residual tax because S$180,000 of serviced-office AV gets only 30%. A S$36,000 factory saves S$1,080. For parking AV S$648,000 split 60% retail and 40% office, rebate is S$46,656 and tax S$18,144. Appendices D–F then illustrate GIRO scheduling and time-split recomputation rather than treating the entire year at a new rate after a July change.
Appendix G: whole-property change examples
For a S$9,000 original rebate, changes on 15 May and 25 October produce final S$9,479.84, broken into S$3,338.71, S$4,657.26 and S$1,483.87 periods. A full-year tenant gets the full revised amount. January–May tenant A gets S$3,818.55 and June–December B S$5,661.29. A tenant starting 1 April gets S$7,229.84. With A through June and B starting 30 August, results are S$4,693.55 and S$3,092.74. The varying totals show that vacant gaps and exact change dates affect the required allocation.
Appendix H: multiple-tenant examples
For a S$32,000 rebate property, monthly 1B calculations yield A S$9,600, B1 S$1,388.71, B2 S$1,800 and C2 S$5,280.65 including departed C1’s S$1,100; total S$18,069.36. Alternative 2B produces A S$9,600, B1 S$4,200 and C2 S$7,200, total S$21,000. A turnover-rent example gives B S$2,795.33 under 1B versus S$3,639.99 under 2B. With an S$8,500 cap, 1B allocates A/B S$5,227.27/S$3,272.73; 2B S$5,312.50/S$3,187.50. With a later S$12,000→13,200 increase, both options require extra S$685.72 and S$514.28, due 30 January 2021 after a 1 December notice.
Rental Relief Framework interaction
The framework effective 31 July 2020 covered eligible SME/NPO end-tenants, including relevant sub-tenants. Existing cash or rent assistance could offset mandated waivers. If required rental waivers covered required tax-rebate pass-on, the obligation was discharged; otherwise pass the excess. Appendix I first credits waivers toward January–June unpaid benefits, then remaining waivers toward July–December, then apportions excess waivers across remaining eligible rebate obligations. It permits recovery of overpaid second-half rebate after waivers. Timing extension requires a cash-grant notice or application before the then-current deadline, not afterward.
Appendix I: three waiver examples and extensions
All examples use AV S$24,000, rebate S$2,400 and Government grant S$1,600. In example 1, A’s S$500 waiver leaves S$300 rebate; B’s S$1,500 waiver leaves none; C receives S$100, so waivers plus rebate total S$2,400. Example 2’s S$1,000 waiver absorbs A’s S$800 and leaves a S$200 surplus, allocated by remaining days to reduce B’s July benefit to S$167 and C’s August–December benefit to S$833. In example 3, total S$2,200 waivers leave B S$152.46 and C S$47.54, using September–December days after B’s own waiver is exhausted. For timely grant requests, extension ends 60 days after rejection, the last day to seek an assessor’s determination, or the determination date as applicable; second-half timing preserves the later applicable 31 December date.
Reading the archive and seeking the official reference
This article follows the historical programme and examples, including expired filing, records and dispute dates. The Sixth Edition retains amendment notes from April, May and December 2020, including later rental-waiver interaction. They are the history of this relief, not a new claim invitation. The official source remains available for the detailed legislative formulas and notices; source enquiries are directed to IRAS Property Tax Division through Contact Us.
Official source
This article independently explains the substantive contents of the official PDF, including the relevant conditions, procedures and annexes. The linked document remains the authoritative source for its original wording, and later changes should be checked separately.
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