Duty on renunciation of interest in trust over residential property by beneficiary
22C.—(1) This section applies in a case where —
(a)
a person (called in this section the settlor) declared a bare trust over residential property or any interest in residential property on or after 10 May 2022; and
(b)
a beneficiary of the trust disclaims or renounces on or after that date the beneficiary’s interest in the residential property under the trust, and a resulting trust arises in favour of the settlor of the interest so disclaimed or renounced (called in this section the renounced interest).
(2) The beneficiary must, within the prescribed period after the date of the disclaimer or renunciation, give to the Commissioner and the settlor in the prescribed manner a notice in the prescribed form that this section applies to the renounced interest (called in this section and Article 3 of the First Schedule a section 22C notice).
(3) A beneficiary who contravenes subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.
(4) If the beneficiary fails to comply with subsection (2), the Commissioner may at any time give a section 22C notice to the beneficiary and the settlor.
(5) A section 22C notice is chargeable with the same ad valorem duty under this Act that is payable by a grantee as if it were a conveyance or transfer operating as a voluntary disposition inter vivos of the renounced interest to the settlor, except that the duty is payable by the settlor as if the settlor were the grantee.
(6) If the disclaimer or renunciation takes effect —
(a)
whilst section 22A is in force; and
(b)
before the end of the specified holding period mentioned in section 22A after the date the beneficiary first has beneficial ownership of the renounced interest,
then duty under section 22A is also chargeable on a section 22C notice, and payable by the beneficiary, as if it were a conveyance or transfer operating as a voluntary disposition inter vivos of the renounced interest under section 22A, and the renounced interest were disposed of on the effective date of the disclaimer or renunciation.
(7) For the purpose of determining the amount of duty chargeable under subsection (5) or (6), the value of the property is determined as follows:
(a)
if the section 22C notice is given by the beneficiary — the value of the property is its value as at the last day of the prescribed period in subsection (2) or, if the notice is given before the end of the prescribed period, the date the notice is given to the Commissioner;
(b)
if the section 22C notice is given by the Commissioner — the value of the property is its value as at the last day of the prescribed period in subsection (2).
(8) Section 46 applies in relation to the duties in subsections (5) and (6) as if the section 22C notice were —
(a)
if given by the beneficiary — an instrument first executed in Singapore on the last day of the prescribed period in subsection (2) or, if the beneficiary gives the notice before the end of the prescribed period, the date the notice is given to the Commissioner; or
(b)
if given by the Commissioner — an instrument first executed in Singapore on the last day of the prescribed period in subsection (2).
(9) In this section —
(a)
“residential property” has the meaning given by paragraph (b) of the definition of that term in paragraph (1) of Article 3 of the First Schedule; and
(b)
a reference to the beneficiary is, in a case where the beneficiary is an individual below 21 years of age or lacks capacity, to the guardian, donee, deputy or other person having the direction, control or management of the renounced interest on the beneficiary’s behalf.
(10) This section is subject to section 9 of the Stamp Duties (Amendment) Act 2022.