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Tax guide · Refunds

How to get a property tax refund for overpayment

By Winfred Quek, Associate Marketing Consultant · CEA R073319H · Crestbrick Pte Ltd (L31010886H) · Published 13 July 2026

Facts verified: 13 July 2026 · Verify current refund processes with IRAS · Sources attributed below

Owners often lump property tax overpayment and property tax appeals together in their head, as if they are the same problem with the same fix. They are not. An appeal is about whether the assessment itself was right going forward. A refund is about getting back money that was genuinely paid in excess of what was actually owed, for reasons that often have nothing to do with the assessment being wrong at all. Separating the two makes the right process much easier to find.

The three common causes of overpayment

Most genuine property tax overpayments in Singapore trace back to one of three situations, and each has a different mechanism for getting the money back.

1. A mid year sale. Property tax is generally paid annually in advance. A seller who paid the full year's bill in January and then completes a sale in, say, June has effectively prepaid for six months of ownership they will not hold.
2. A backdated annual value revision. If IRAS revises a property's annual value downward, whether through a successful appeal or a periodic revaluation, and the revision is backdated to cover a period already paid at the higher rate, the difference for that earlier period becomes an overpayment.
3. An error or duplicate payment. Occasionally a payment is made twice, through GIRO and a manual payment overlapping, or an amount is simply entered or processed incorrectly.

How a mid year sale overpayment is actually resolved

This is the scenario I see most often among clients selling private property, and it surprises people how it is handled. Because property tax is paid annually in advance, a seller who has already paid the full year's tax before completing a sale partway through the year is, in effect, owed a portion of that payment back, covering the period after completion when they no longer own the property.

In practice this is almost always resolved through apportionment at the point of legal completion, not through a separate refund application to IRAS. The conveyancing lawyers on both sides calculate the seller's and buyer's respective shares of the year's property tax based on the completion date, and the buyer typically reimburses the seller for the portion of tax the seller prepaid covering the buyer's period of ownership, as part of the completion accounts. This means the seller effectively recovers the overpayment from the buyer, through the conveyancing process, rather than waiting on IRAS directly. If you are selling, this is one of the many mechanics your conveyancing lawyer should be handling as a matter of course, and it is worth confirming it explicitly rather than assuming it happens silently in the background.

How a backdated annual value revision is refunded

When an assessment appeal succeeds, or IRAS conducts a periodic revaluation that lowers a property's annual value with retroactive effect, the tax already paid at the previous, higher annual value for the affected period becomes an overpayment. In these cases, because IRAS itself is the party revising the assessment, the resulting overpayment is typically identified and refunded as part of that same process, without the owner needing to file a separate refund request. This is a meaningfully different situation from a mid year sale, where the overpayment arises from a change in ownership rather than a change in the assessment itself.

What to do if you suspect a genuine overpayment

1. Check your IRAS property tax account, typically accessible through myTax Portal, to see the payment history and current balance for the property.
2. Identify which of the three scenarios applies, a sale, a backdated revision, or a payment error, since each points to a different resolution channel.
3. For a mid year sale, confirm with your conveyancing lawyer that apportionment has been correctly calculated and reflected in the completion accounts.
4. For a backdated revision, check whether the refund has already been processed as part of the assessment change, and follow up with IRAS directly if it has not appeared within a reasonable period.
5. For a suspected error or duplicate payment, contact IRAS directly with the payment details so the account can be reviewed and corrected.

None of these processes require guesswork if you approach them with the right framing from the start. The mistake to avoid is treating every overpayment as an appeal issue, which sends you down the wrong process and delays getting the money back through the channel that actually applies to your situation.

Where sellers most often miss this

In my experience advising sellers through a completion, the mid year sale overpayment is the scenario most often misunderstood, not because it is complicated, but because it happens quietly inside the completion accounts rather than as a distinct, visible refund event. A seller who paid property tax for the full year in January and completes their sale in, say, September may never see a line item that says refund. Instead, they see a credit in the completion accounts reflecting the buyer's reimbursement for the unused portion of the year, netted against other adjustments like outstanding S&CC or utility deposits.

This is entirely normal and correct, but it means a seller checking their IRAS account directly after completion, expecting to see a refund transaction there, may be looking in the wrong place. The money has already effectively been returned through the property transaction itself, via the buyer, rather than through a separate payment from IRAS. If your completion statement includes a property tax apportionment credit, that is the refund, even though it does not arrive as a distinct IRAS transaction. Ask your conveyancing lawyer to walk through this specific line item if it is not immediately clear on the statement, since it is one of the more commonly misread parts of a completion account.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if I have overpaid property tax?

The most common triggers are selling a property partway through the tax year after having already paid the full year's tax, a backdated reduction in annual value following a successful appeal or a periodic revaluation, or a duplicate or erroneous payment. Reviewing your IRAS property tax statement or myTax Portal account after any of these events is the way to confirm whether a credit balance exists.

Do I need to apply for a refund or does IRAS do it automatically?

In many cases where IRAS itself revises an assessment, such as after a successful appeal, any resulting overpayment is identified and refunded as part of that process without a separate application. In other situations, such as a mid year sale where apportionment is involved, it is prudent for the owner or their conveyancing lawyer to confirm the refund is correctly processed rather than assuming it happens automatically.

What happens to a property tax overpayment when I sell my property mid year?

Property tax is generally paid annually in advance, so a seller who paid the full year's tax before completing a mid year sale has effectively prepaid for a period they will no longer own the property. This is typically addressed through apportionment at the point of completion, handled by the conveyancing lawyers as part of the standard completion accounts, rather than through a separate refund claim to IRAS after the fact.

How long does an IRAS property tax refund take?

Processing times vary depending on the nature of the overpayment and whether it arises from an IRAS initiated revision or a taxpayer request, and IRAS does not publish a single fixed turnaround time that applies to every case. Check the status of a specific refund through myTax Portal or by contacting IRAS directly rather than assuming a standard timeline.

Is a property tax refund the same as winning an assessment appeal?

They are related but distinct. An assessment appeal is the process of disputing the annual value IRAS has assigned to a property, which determines the tax going forward and potentially retroactively if successful. A refund is the mechanical step of getting back money already paid once an overpayment, whether from a successful appeal, a sale, or an error, has been established.

Sources & references

• IRAS — Property Tax
• IRAS — Paying property tax
• IRAS — Annual value and objections

Winfred Quek is Associate Marketing Consultant at Crestbrick Pte Ltd, advising Singapore upgraders, investors and families. CEA R073319H. The information on this page is general and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Refund processes and timelines are determined by IRAS and can change, verify current procedures directly and consult your conveyancing lawyer for any sale related apportionment.