{"id":121803,"date":"2021-09-03T02:18:55","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T19:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/couple-pleads-guilty-to-backdating-option-to-purchase-to-evade-higher-stamp-duties\/"},"modified":"2021-09-03T11:02:44","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T04:02:44","slug":"couple-pleads-guilty-to-backdating-option-to-purchase-to-evade-higher-stamp-duties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/couple-pleads-guilty-to-backdating-option-to-purchase-to-evade-higher-stamp-duties\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple pleads guilty to backdating Option to Purchase to evade higher stamp duties"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nDaniel Halim and his wife Lee Liu Ying told their agent to backdate the OTP for a unit at Sandy Palm condo to avoid higher ABSD charges.\u00a0
\nA married couple, who wanted to purchase a unit at Sandy Palm condominium, pleaded guilty to backdating an Option to Purchase (OTP) to avoid paying higher Additional Buyer\u2019s Stamp Duty (ABSD), reported Channel News Asia (CNA).
\nDaniel Halim and his wife Lee Liu Ying already own a condominium in West Coast Crescent as well as an HDB flat in Strathmore Avenue.
\nThey wanted to acquire a fourth-floor Sandy Palm condominium unit in Loyang, which the couple viewed on 7 July 2018.
\nHowever, the Singapore Government introduced cooling measures on 5 July 2018, in which the ABSD for Singaporeans purchasing their third and subsequent residential property was raised from 10% to 15%.
\nWith this, the couple told their agent Mu Shen to instigate Loy Thye Wei, the seller\u2019s agent, to backdate the OTP to 4 July.
\nThis comes as residential properties bought on or after 6 July could still qualify for the 10% rate, subject to certain conditions. These included the OTP being granted on or before 5 July.
\nHalim and Lee told Mu that they would only push through with the transaction if the OTP was backdated since they no longer have enough cash to cover the higher ABSD.
\nThe prosecutor noted that while the couple raised their initial offer for the property by $30,000 from $1.35 million to $1.38 million during their second viewing on 8 July, the transacted price only led to a $1,500 hike in the minimum cash payable.
\nThe date of the option cheque was also backdated by Halim to 4 July to match with the backdated OTP.
\nNotably, the seller had no knowledge that Loy had backdated the OTP to 4 July.
\nThe amount of ABSD underpaid by Halim and Lee stood at $69,000.
\nOn 12 July this year, Mu had pleaded guilty to abetting by instigating Loy into falsely stating the date of the OTP. Loy is also expected to plead guilty on 3 September.
\nMeanwhile, the couple will return to court on 10 September for sentencing.
\n\u00a0
\nLooking for a property in Singapore? Visit PropertyGuru\u2019s\u00a0Listings,\u00a0Project Reviews\u00a0and\u00a0Guides.
\nVictor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this story, email:\u00a0victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
\n
\nSource : proppertyguru.com.sg\/Property Market
\nRead more…Couple pleads guilty to backdating Option to Purchase to evade higher stamp duties<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daniel Halim and his wife Lee Liu Ying told their agent to backdate the OTP...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":121804,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SANDY-PALM-CONDOMINIUM.jpg?fit=820%2C410&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-vGz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":122225,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/condo-buyers-agents-jailed-for-backdating-option-to-purchase-to-evade-higher-absd\/","url_meta":{"origin":121803,"position":0},"title":"Condo buyers, agents jailed for backdating Option to Purchase to evade higher ABSD","date":"September 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The buyers, who are a married couple, were sentenced to six weeks\u2019 jail and fined $276,000. The property agent and seller\u2019s agent were handed an eight-week jail term each. A married couple and two property agents were jailed on 24 September for backdating an Option to Purchase (OTP) to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Man-jailed-crop.jpg?fit=820%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":120524,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/property-agent-pleads-guilty-to-instigating-another-agent-to-backdate-option-to-purchase\/","url_meta":{"origin":121803,"position":1},"title":"Property agent pleads guilty to instigating another agent to backdate Option to Purchase","date":"July 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r By illegally backdating the Option to Purchase, the buyers were able to pay 10% Additional Buyer\u2019s Stamp Duty, instead of 15%, effectively evading $69,000 in stamp duty fees. Source: Google Maps Property agent, Mu Shen, has pleaded guilty to one charge of abetting by instigating his co-accused, Loy Thye\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/SANDY-PALM-CONDOMINIUM.jpg?fit=820%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":123833,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/singapore-unveils-new-property-cooling-measures\/","url_meta":{"origin":121803,"position":2},"title":"Singapore unveils new property cooling measures","date":"December 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Singapore unveils new property cooling measuresThe new Singapore property cooling measures, which include a higher ABSD, lower TDSR, and tighter LTV, will take effect from today, 16 December 2021. 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