A) Singapore also has stamp duty, for a S$500,000 property, you
are paying S$9,600 in stamp duties. For S$500,000, you can probably
get a 4-5 Room HDB in Singapore, but you can get a landed property
in Australia. The stamp duty for a A$500,000 (Landed Property) in
Australia ranges from A$8,750 to A$21,970.
B) Australia does not have Radio and TV licence, you still need
to pay S$110 every year to government.
C) There is no property tax for owner occupied housing in
Australia, but in Singapore you still have to pay a concessionary
rate of property tax to Singapore's PAP government. The advantage
of low property taxes in Singapore will be eroded in 10 years, due
to Singapore's property taxes. Also don't forget the higher cost of
living in Singapore compared to Australia. Electricity, ERP,
Medical Services, GST (Australia exempts medication,
books and basic food from GST, Singapore is non discretionary).
D) The wage level for Australia is higher than Singapore,
Singaporeans make $1,200, while similar job in Australia pays 3-4
times more. You get A$15 for stacking shelves in the supermarket in
Australia. How much do you get in Singapore for stacking shelves?
This also means that it's easier for Australians to pay for their
A$500,000 home compared to a Singaporean. When your salary is 3-4
times that of Singapore, it's justified to have
"private" housing that cost $500,000. How do you
justify "public" housing costing S$500,000 when
your salary is 1/3 to 1/4 that of Australia's?
Singapore's tax in general looks better, but when comparison is
taken to relative wage levels and price level, it's a stark
contrast compared to Australia.
Hi Beta,
First off thanks for your post and welcome to SC. My points
below for your perusal.
A) Stamp Duty for $500,000 as of today is $25,070 in AU. $9,600
as you mentioned in SG. Forex lets take it $1.20 SGD for 1 AUD. It
can be seen that AU is actually more expensive. B & C are small
amounts when compared to the stamp duty to be honest sir.
D) Well its kinda true that the wage in Au is higher than Sg.
You should also realise that it only applies to the low wage
earners between these 2 countries. As can be seen from a post I
made earlier in this thread.... once revenue hits a certain amount
I think its $180,000 per annum tax is 45% meaning 45c of each
dollar earned after $180,000 is taken by the government. I think Sg
does not tax that heavily.
Next point I'm going to bring in is cost of daily expenses. Food
in SG is relatively cheap as compared to AU. Public Transport is
also cheaper. So is petrol i THINK. I just pumped last Sat
and it was $1.27aud/litre for unleaded.
Another point to take note is the mortage interest %. ANZ is
currently offering 6.66%. That works out to about $2750 monthly
interest only (no principal) for a $500,000 loan. I think Sg have
it better here?
Kind Regards
Genie