Tenancy Agreements in Singapore: Deposits, Clauses and Stamp Duty

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate and solicitor about your situation. Information last verified on 23 July 2026.

A tenancy agreement is the contract that sets out what a landlord and tenant have agreed: the rent, the length of the lease, the deposit, and each side's obligations. Because Singapore has no rent control and no statute that dictates the terms of a residential lease, the document itself does almost all of the work. This guide explains the tax you must pay to stamp it, and the deposit and clause conventions that most local leases follow.

Stamp duty: how it is calculated

Every lease is subject to stamp duty, which is paid to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). The rate is 0.4 per cent, but the base it is applied to depends on how long the lease runs.

For a lease of 4 years or less, the duty is 0.4 per cent of the total rent for the whole lease period. For a lease of more than 4 years, or for any indefinite term, the duty is 0.4 per cent of 4 times the average annual rent (AAR).

There is an exemption at the bottom end. If the AAR is S$1,000 or less, no stamp duty is payable. IRAS rounds the duty down to the nearest dollar, subject to a minimum duty of S$1.

What the average annual rent includes

The AAR is not always just the monthly rent multiplied by 12. IRAS takes the higher of the average annual contractual rent or the annualised market rent, and it adds certain other charges the tenant pays under the lease, such as amounts for advertising and promotion, furniture and fittings, maintenance, and service charges. Goods and services tax is excluded from the calculation.

For most straightforward residential leases the contractual rent is the figure that matters, but if the agreement bundles in service or maintenance charges, those form part of the base on which the duty is worked out.

A worked example

Take a 2-year lease at S$3,000 a month. The total rent over the lease is S$3,000 multiplied by 24 months, which is S$72,000. Because the lease is 4 years or less, the duty is 0.4 per cent of that total: S$288.

Now take the same S$3,000 monthly rent on a 6-year lease. Because the lease runs beyond 4 years, the base changes to 4 times the AAR. The AAR is S$36,000, so 4 times the AAR is S$144,000, and 0.4 per cent of that is S$576. The longer lease is stamped on the 4-times-AAR basis, not on the full six years of rent.

The 14-day deadline

Stamping is time-limited. For a document signed in Singapore, the lease must be stamped within 14 days after it is signed. If the document is signed outside Singapore and later brought into the country, the window is 30 days after it is received here.

The clock runs from signing, not from the date the tenancy starts. Late stamping can attract a penalty, so stamping is usually done promptly after the agreement is signed. In practice the duty is paid online through the IRAS e-Stamping portal, and the party who pays is a matter of agreement, though the tenant commonly bears it.

Why stamping matters beyond the tax

Stamp duty is not only a revenue matter. An agreement that has not been stamped can run into difficulty being admitted as evidence if a dispute later reaches a tribunal or court. Stamping the lease protects the value of the document as proof of what the parties agreed, which is exactly what you need if a deposit or a term is later contested.

The security deposit

The security deposit is one of the most negotiated items in a lease, and it is governed by the contract, not by statute. A common convention is one month of rent for each year of the lease, so a one-year lease often carries a one-month deposit and a two-year lease two months. These are norms, not rules, and they are negotiable.

What matters most is what the agreement says about the deposit: the conditions for its return, the timeframe, and the deductions the landlord may make for damage beyond fair wear and tear. Disputes over a withheld deposit are among the most common tenancy disputes, and a clear clause is the best protection for both sides.

Common clauses to read closely

A few clauses recur in Singapore leases and are worth understanding before you sign.

The minor-repair clause makes the tenant responsible for small repairs up to a stated cap, often somewhere around S$150 to S$200 per item, with the landlord responsible above that. The exact figure is negotiable and set by the agreement.

The diplomatic clause, common in leases of a year or more, lets the tenant end the lease early in defined circumstances, typically after a minimum occupation period and on notice, for example if the tenant is required to leave Singapore. Whether it applies, and on what terms, depends entirely on the wording in the agreement.

Other clauses to check include the notice period for ending or renewing the lease, who pays for the stamp duty and the agent, the rules on subletting, and the inventory of furniture and fittings, which is the reference point for any later deposit deduction.

Before you sign

Read the whole agreement, confirm the deposit terms and the return conditions, and make sure the inventory reflects the actual condition of the property, ideally with dated photographs. Stamp the agreement within the deadline. If a dispute later arises over rent or a deposit on a residential lease not exceeding 2 years, the Small Claims Tribunals are the usual forum. For an overview of renting in Singapore, see the tenancy section, and if you are renting an HDB flat, read the HDB subletting rules as well.