Ministry of Law's Response to ST Forum Letter: Assessor's help available to work out rental issues

20 June 2020 Posted in Replies

We refer to the letter by Mr Cheong Wing Kiat (Questions remain for landlords with new law to help SMEs with rent, June 13).

The law passed in Parliament provides rent waivers and other relief to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The rental waivers are for April to next month for eligible SMEs in commercial properties (the Government provides two months of cash rebates, and landlords waive two months), and for April to last month for eligible SMEs in industrial/office properties (the Government provides one month of cash rebates, and landlords waive one month of rent).

To receive the additional rental waiver which is to be borne by the landlords, on top of the government-assisted portion, SMEs will need to have suffered a 35 per cent or more drop in average revenue for the months of April to last month.

Tenants will be required to provide the necessary information to determine eligibility to the landlord upon request.

If landlords do not agree or are unable to determine eligibility on their own, they can apply to have an assessor, appointed by the Ministry of Law, to determine whether the tenant satisfies the eligibility criteria to receive the additional rental waiver.

The assessor’s determination will be binding on both the landlord and the tenant.

More information on the application process and assessment criteria will be shared in due course.

Property tax for a commercial or industrial property is calculated based on 10 per cent of its annual value (AV). The AV for any given year is the estimated annual rental a property could fetch if it is let out during that year.

The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore will monitor market conditions and look at transaction evidence to see if there is any basis to review the 2020 AV.

Andrea Goh (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications Division, Ministry of Law

Kelly Wee (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore

Last updated on 20 June 2020