An independent RES exam study resource — not a Government website and not affiliated with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA).Find My OrderHow to identify official CEA sources
Browse Papers
Home / Free RES questions / Property tax annual value
← All property tax annual value questions

Property tax is paid a year in advance by 31 January

A worked RES examination question on property tax annual value, from our Paper 2 bank — with the rule it turns on, and why each of the four options is right or wrong.

Paper 2Lesson 8Property tax annual valueFree — no sign-up

The question

A condominium sale completes on 15 August 2026. The seller had already paid the full-year property tax in January. The parties' lawyers are apportioning the property tax between seller and buyer at completion. The buyer wants to know exactly where the completion date draws the line between the two parties, and what happens to any outstanding tax if his lawyer overlooks the requisition.

Consider the following statements.

  1. (i) Property tax is payable one year in advance, by 31 January each year.
  2. (ii) The seller bears the property tax up to and including the completion date.
  3. (iii) The buyer bears the property tax from the day after completion.
  4. (iv) If the buyer's lawyer fails to make a legal requisition on outstanding property tax before completion, any outstanding tax becomes the buyer's burden.
  1. A. (i), (ii) and (iv) only
  2. B. (i), (iii) and (iv) only
  3. C. (ii), (iii) and (iv) only
  4. D. (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)

The answer, and why

Answer: D

The rule. Property tax is paid a year in advance by 31 January. On a mid-year sale the seller bears the tax up to and including completion, the buyer from the day after; and if the buyer's lawyer fails to make a legal requisition on outstanding tax before completion, that tax becomes the buyer's burden.

Why D is correct. All four are correct — the advance-payment deadline, the completion-date boundary both ways, and the legal-requisition consequence.

The other options.

  • A drops (iii), the buyer's liability from the day after completion.
  • B drops (ii), the seller's liability to completion.
  • C drops (i), the advance-payment rule.

Exam note. The boundary is "seller up to and including; buyer from the day after" — and a missed legal requisition dumps outstanding property tax on the buyer.

More on Property tax annual value

Read all Property tax annual value questions on one page →

Want a full paper instead of one question?

The free half-paper is 20 questions with a Section B case study, explained to this same depth. The paid sets are ten full 80-question papers across Paper 1 and Paper 2, every figure checked against the current IRAS, CEA, HDB, URA and SLA position.

Free 20-question paperThe papers in PDF

Looking for past-year papers? CEA doesn't publish them — here's what it does publish.

Independent study material. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the Council for Estate Agencies. No pass guarantee — for study use only.