The 5-Year Rule: What Records IRAS Expects Every Landlord to Keep

If you claim expenses against your rental income in Singapore, IRAS requires you to keep all supporting documents for at least 5 years from the relevant Year of Assessment. This is not a suggestion — it is a requirement. If IRAS requests verification and you cannot produce the documents, your deductions can be disallowed and penalties may follow.

Here is what you need to keep, how long to keep it, and how to stay organised.

The Rule

IRAS states that property owners must retain all supporting documents such as tenancy agreements, bank mortgage statements, invoices, and receipts for at least 5 years for verification purposes.

The 5 years is counted from the Year of Assessment (YA), not the calendar year. For example, rental income earned in 2025 is declared in YA 2026. Documents relating to that income must be kept until at least 2031.

In practice, this means you should keep records for about 6 calendar years from when the expense was incurred.

What Documents to Keep

Tenancy Agreements

Keep every tenancy agreement, including renewals and amendments. These prove:

The rental amount agreed upon
The rental period (start and end dates)
What is included in the rent (furniture, utilities, maintenance)
Who is responsible for what expenses

If you renewed a tenancy at a different rate, keep both the original and renewal agreements.

Bank Mortgage Statements

Your bank statement must show the breakdown of each mortgage payment into principal and interest. Only the interest portion is deductible.

Most banks provide an annual interest statement or certificate. Keep these for every year that you claim mortgage interest as a deduction. This applies whether you use the deemed expense method or actual expenses — mortgage interest is claimable under both.

Invoices and Receipts for All Expenses

Every expense you claim must have a corresponding invoice or receipt. This includes:

Property tax notices — the annual bill from IRAS
Maintenance and repair invoices — aircon servicing, plumbing, electrical, painting
Agent commission receipts — for tenant sourcing and tenancy management
Insurance policy documents — fire insurance and property insurance premiums
Utility bills — if the landlord pays utilities as part of the rental arrangement
Condo management fees — MCST levy statements
Contractor invoices — for any repair or maintenance work

Each receipt should show: the date, the amount, the service or item provided, and the vendor's details.

Agent Commission Records

If you use a property agent, keep records of:

The commission agreement
Receipts for commissions paid
Any fees for tenant screening or property management services

Insurance Documents

Keep the policy documents and premium payment receipts for fire insurance and any other property insurance covering the rental property.

Property Tax Notices

IRAS sends property tax bills annually. Keep these as proof of the property tax amount paid, which is deductible against rental income.

The Deemed Expense Exception

If you use the 15% deemed expense method, your record-keeping burden is significantly lighter. Under this method, you only need to keep:

Mortgage interest documents (bank statements or interest certificates)

You do not need to keep receipts for property tax, repairs, agent fees, insurance, or any other operating expenses. IRAS accepts the 15% figure without documentation.

However, if you switch to actual expenses in a future year, you will need full documentation for that year. Many landlords keep records anyway, even when using deemed expenses, to have the option of switching methods if a high-expense year makes actual expenses more beneficial.

What Happens If You Cannot Produce Documents

If IRAS requests verification and you cannot produce supporting documents:

Deductions may be disallowed. IRAS can reject expense claims that are not backed by documentation. This increases your taxable rental income and the tax you owe.
Additional tax becomes payable. The difference between what you declared and what IRAS determines is payable, plus interest.
Penalties may apply. If the missing documentation leads to a finding of underreported income, penalties of up to 200% of the underreported tax can be imposed.
Audit scope may expand. If IRAS finds issues with one year's records, they may choose to examine additional years.

The practical impact: a landlord who claimed $8,000 in repairs but cannot produce receipts loses that deduction. If their marginal tax rate is 15%, that is $1,200 in additional tax — before any penalties.

Digital Records Are Accepted

IRAS accepts digital copies of documents. You do not need to keep physical paper receipts if you have clear digital versions. This includes:

Scanned or photographed receipts
PDF invoices received by email
Digital bank statements
Screenshots of online payments

The key requirement is that the digital record must be legible, complete, and accurately represent the original document.

How to Organise Your Records

By Property

If you own multiple rental properties, organise records separately for each property. This makes it easy to:

Calculate expenses per property
Respond to IRAS queries about a specific property
Compare deemed vs actual expenses per property

By Year

Within each property, organise by Year of Assessment. Keep all documents for a given tax year together.

By Category

Within each year, categorise expenses:

Mortgage interest
Property tax
Repairs and maintenance
Agent fees
Insurance
Utilities
Management fees

This structure mirrors how expenses are reported in your tax return, making filing straightforward.

The Practical Challenge

For landlords managing multiple properties — especially through agents — record-keeping becomes the biggest operational challenge. Consider the volume:

A landlord with 10 properties might have:

10 tenancy agreements (plus renewals)
10 mortgage interest statements
10 property tax notices
10 insurance policies
Dozens of maintenance invoices throughout the year
Agent commission receipts per property
Utility bills if landlord-covered

That is potentially hundreds of documents per year, arriving from different sources — agents forwarding receipts via WhatsApp, contractors handing over paper invoices, banks sending statements by email, and IRAS mailing property tax notices.

When these documents are scattered across messaging apps, email inboxes, physical folders, and spreadsheets, finding a specific receipt from 3 years ago becomes a time-consuming exercise. During a tax audit, this is exactly what IRAS asks you to do.

A Practical Record-Keeping System

Whatever method you use, the system should capture these elements for every expense:

Date of the expense
Amount paid
Category (repairs, insurance, agent fee, etc.)
Property the expense relates to
Receipt or invoice as proof
Who submitted it (you, your agent, your admin)

The records should be searchable — by property, by category, by date range, and by amount. When IRAS asks for "all maintenance receipts for Unit 12-34 in 2024," you should be able to produce them in minutes, not hours.

Retention Timeline

| Income Year | Year of Assessment | Keep Until | |-------------|-------------------|------------| | 2024 | YA 2025 | 2030 | | 2025 | YA 2026 | 2031 | | 2026 | YA 2027 | 2032 |

When a year falls outside the 5-year window, you can safely dispose of those records. Until then, keep everything.

Key Takeaways

IRAS requires all supporting documents to be kept for at least 5 years from the Year of Assessment
Documents include tenancy agreements, mortgage statements, every invoice and receipt, insurance policies, and property tax notices
The deemed expense method (15%) only requires mortgage interest documentation
IRAS accepts digital records — scans, photos, and PDFs are valid
Deductions without documentation will be disallowed, with potential penalties up to 200%
Organise records by property, then by year, then by expense category
A searchable, centralised system saves significant time during filing and audits