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US$1.6 billion levy complicates sale of Singapore land by Malaysian king’s son
Tunku Ismail Ibrahim is seeking to sell 16.6 hectares of land, with his representatives courting buyers from the US and elsewhere
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A Malaysian royal’s plan to sell a tract of land in the heart of Singapore faces a complication: a tax bill that may exceed US$1 billion.
A levy known as a land betterment charge has emerged as a sticking point in negotiations between some prospective buyers and the current owner, the eldest son of Malaysia’s billionaire king, according to people familiar with the matter. The owner wants any buyer to foot the bill, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
The tax, imposed when the government gives planning permission or other approvals that increase the value of land, may run north of S$2 billion (US$1.6 billion), according to estimates by three local property analysts.
It is a potential stumbling block for what may be one of Singapore’s biggest-ever real estate deals. Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, son of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, is seeking to sell 16.6 hectares (41 acres) of land, including a plot he obtained in a 2025 land swap with the city state’s government that would enable any properties being built on his land to be further away from the Botanic Gardens, a Unesco World Heritage site.
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