A pre-war terrace house on Devonshire Road in Somerset faces foreclosure after the home owners failed to pay property tax for two years, amounting to around S$7,000.
The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) served the owners with a notice of sale in August 2011.
If the home owners fail to pay the amount within three months from the publication of the government gazette, the 1,717 sq ft property will be sold at a public auction in November.
According to Nicholas Mak, Head of Research at SLP International, the freehold property is valued between S$2.2 million and S$2.3 million, based on comparable properties within the vicinity.
Part-time chef Chen Zhen Nan, 53, one of the owners of the freehold property, said that he cannot pay the property tax due to financial problems.
Chen said he had wanted to sell the property earlier to solve his financial problems, but he couldn’t reach an agreement with his siblings.
“We need help to pay our debts,” he said.
IRAS wanted to foreclose on the property but Chen’s eldest brother helped to pay the tax then, preventing it from being sold.
His brother, however, passed away this year.
A property auction was the last option, after all attempts to recover outstanding property taxes failed.
A spokesperson from IRAS said, “Before we auction a property, we would have issued reminders, notices to pay, made phone calls and appointed banks as agents to try to recover the taxes due.”
“We have also communicated with the occupant of the property, one of the children of the deceased owner, about the outstanding property tax.”
“No one has come forward to pay the outstanding property tax.”
Thus, the property will be sold by IRAS (subjected to a reserve price), taking the outstanding amount, less the expenses incurred in selling the property, such as the commission of the property agent.
The remaining amount will be returned to the owners of the property.
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