In Singapore, rental income is taxed at your marginal personal income tax rate (0–24%). Landlords may deduct either a flat 15% deemed expense on gross rent (plus actual mortgage interest) or actual allowable expenses — whichever produces a lower net chargeable amount. Filing is through myTax Portal (Form B/B1) by 18 April each year (as of 2026-05).
You signed the tenancy agreement, collected the first month’s rent, and felt the satisfying weight of passive income landing in your account. Then a colleague mentions offhand that IRAS expects a share of that — and suddenly the paperwork feels a lot less passive.
Singapore’s rental tax framework is actually one of the more landlord-friendly regimes in Asia: a simplified 15% deemed-expense option means many landlords can file in minutes without a shoebox of receipts. But the rules have nuances — around which expenses qualify, how the deemed and actual methods interact, and what happens when you rent out only part of your home. This guide walks through every layer so you can maximise legitimate deductions, stay fully compliant, and avoid the penalties that catch unprepared landlords off-guard (as of 2026-05).
Under Singapore law, all rental income from property situated in Singapore is taxable, regardless of whether the landlord is resident or non-resident. The income is added to your other assessable income and taxed at the progressive resident rates — from 0% on the first S$20,000 up to 24% on income above S$1,000,000 for Year of Assessment (YA) 2026. Non-residents pay a flat 22% (or 24% from YA 2024 for non-resident individuals). The full rate schedule is published by IRAS: Individual Income Tax Rates.
What counts as rental income? The gross amount received includes not just monthly rent but also:
- Furniture and fittings rental (if charged separately)
- Reimbursed utility bills paid by the tenant on your behalf
- One-time payments for granting or renewing a lease (premium)
- Compensation received from a tenant for early termination of a lease
Security deposits held in trust are not taxable until you forfeit them. Conversely, advance rent paid for multiple periods is taxable in the year it is received, not the year it relates to. IRAS provides a comprehensive overview of all these scenarios at Income from Property Rented Out.
Singapore has no separate “rental income tax” — it feeds directly into your personal income tax return, which means every dollar of net rental income sits on top of your employment income, dividends, and other sources. High earners particularly benefit from keeping deductions sharp. See our guide to property tax for condo owners for the parallel annual levy IRAS charges on the property itself (distinct from income tax on rent collected).
Rental Income Tax Basics
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Allowable Deductions
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Mortgage Interest Deduction
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Repair vs Improvement Distinction
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Filing Rental Income with IRAS
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Record-Keeping Requirements
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Common Deduction Mistakes
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Tax Optimisation for Landlords
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Two deduction methods: choose wisely
For residential properties, IRAS introduced a simplified deemed-expense option to ease record-keeping. You may choose one method per assessment year and must apply it consistently across all your tenanted residential properties:
| Method | What you claim | When it wins |
|---|---|---|
| 15% Deemed Expenses | 15% of gross rent, automatically, plus actual mortgage loan interest | Your non-interest expenses (repairs, insurance, MCST, property tax) total less than 15% of gross rent |
| Actual Expenses | Every qualifying expense with receipts retained for 5 years | High actual costs — e.g. major repairs, multiple properties with large MCST fees |
The deemed method was introduced to reduce compliance burden and is pre-filled in myTax Portal for residential landlords (as of 2026-05). You can override it by selecting actual expenses and entering your figures. IRAS published a detailed e-tax guide on this simplification: Simplification of Claim of Rental Expenses for Individuals (PDF).
Allowable deductions under the actual method
IRAS permits deductions for expenses that are wholly and exclusively incurred in producing the rental income. The principal categories are:
- Mortgage loan interest — only the interest portion of your monthly instalment (not capital repayment). Applicable to both deemed and actual methods.
- Property tax — the annual property tax charged on the tenanted unit by IRAS is deductible, including any property tax attributable to the vacancy period.
- Fire and building insurance — premiums for the period of letting.
- MCST management fees and sinking fund contributions — the monthly maintenance charges imposed by the Management Corporation Strata Title.
- Repairs and maintenance — restoring the property to its original condition (e.g. fixing leaking pipes, repainting walls, replacing broken fittings). Capital improvements that enhance the property beyond its original state are not deductible.
- Agent commission — letting agent fees paid to find a tenant are deductible in the year incurred.
- Administrative costs — reasonable costs directly related to managing the rental (e.g. legal fees for drafting the tenancy agreement).
- Vacancy period expenses — from YA 2022 onwards, repair, insurance, maintenance, and property tax costs incurred during a genuine vacancy period between tenancies are deductible.
Non-deductible items: capital expenditure (new air-conditioning system, structural extensions), personal expenses, interest on loans used for purposes other than acquiring the tenanted property, and GST registration costs.
Partial letting and co-ownership
If you let only part of your property (e.g. one room while residing in the rest), you must apportion income and expenses by floor area or some other reasonable basis. Only the expenses attributable to the let portion are deductible. IRAS scrutinises part-let claims carefully — keep your apportionment methodology documented.
For jointly owned properties, each co-owner declares only their proportionate share of rental income and expenses, matching their ownership interest.
Use the Cash Flow Calculator to model your net rental yield after tax under both the deemed and actual expense methods before committing to a filing approach. The ROI Calculator lets you stress-test after-tax returns across different rent and holding-period scenarios.
Step-by-step: filing your rental income on myTax Portal
- Log in to myTax Portal at mytax.iras.gov.sg using Singpass. Select Individuals → File Income Tax Return.
- Navigate to the rental income section. For Form B1 (employment income and other income), scroll to “Other Income — Rental Income”. For Form B (business and property income), use the dedicated rental schedule.
- Enter gross rental receipts for each property address, covering the full basis period (calendar year 2025 for YA 2026).
- Choose your deduction method. The portal pre-fills the 15% deemed-expense figure. If opting for actual expenses, select “Actual Expenses” and input each category. Remember: mortgage interest is entered separately regardless of which method you use.
- Upload supporting documents if prompted, or retain originals for 5 years in case of an IRAS audit. Key documents: tenancy agreement, bank mortgage statements showing interest breakdown, receipts for repairs, insurance premium notices, MCST fee statements.
- Review and submit by 18 April 2026 (e-filing deadline for YA 2026). Late filing attracts a composition fee of up to S$1,000; failure to file is an offence under Section 94 of the Income Tax Act.
Practical tips to reduce tax liability legally
- Benchmark 15% vs actual before filing — run the numbers both ways. For a S$3,500/month unit with S$200 in monthly maintenance and a S$1,800/month mortgage (of which S$600 is interest), deemed gives S$6,300 deduction (15% of S$42,000) plus S$7,200 interest = S$13,500 total. Actual gives S$200×12 + S$7,200 interest + property tax + insurance — likely less than S$13,500 for a typical D15 unit.
- Declare the vacancy period — expenses incurred between tenancies (from YA 2022 onwards) are deductible; many landlords miss this.
- Separate renovation from repair — document that work orders are “repair and reinstatement” rather than “upgrade”; contractor invoices should state this clearly.
- Track mortgage statements monthly — interest-to-principal ratios shift over the loan term; relying on a year-end estimate understates deductible interest in later years.
- Consider decoupling if owning multiple properties — ABSD and stamp duty interact with rental yield when scaling a portfolio. See our decoupling strategy guide and the multi-property portfolio ABSD guide for the wider picture.
For the annual ownership cost that sits alongside income tax, read how to reduce property tax on your investment condo. To understand how gross yield translates to net-of-tax returns by district, explore the rental yield district map guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What expenses can I deduct from rental income?
Do I need to declare rental income if I make a loss?
Can I deduct renovation costs?
Is mortgage interest deductible even if I choose the 15% deemed-expense method?
Yes — this is a deliberate feature of the deemed-expense regime. Mortgage loan interest is deductible in addition to the 15% deemed expenses. So your total deduction under the deemed method is: 15% of gross rent plus actual mortgage interest paid during the basis period. Keep your annual bank mortgage statement showing the interest-principal split as supporting documentation.
Does renting out a property affect my owner-occupier property tax rate?
Yes — once a property is fully rented out (you do not reside there), it ceases to qualify for the preferential owner-occupier tax rates (0–16% on Annual Value). It reverts to the non-owner-occupier residential rates (12–36% on Annual Value, with higher tiers from 2024). If you rent out only part of your property while still occupying the rest, owner-occupier rates apply to your occupied portion only. See our property tax guide for the full rate tables.