Chief Assessor v Glengary: Property Tax Assessment & Interpretation of 'Vacant Land' under Property Tax Act

In Chief Assessor v Glengary Pte Ltd, the Singapore Court of Appeal heard an appeal regarding the interpretation of Section 2(3)(b) of the Property Tax Act concerning the assessment of annual value for properties under development. The Chief Assessor appealed against the High Court's decision, which had reversed the Valuation Review Board's ruling. The central issue was whether pre-sales of residential units should be considered when valuing land as 'vacant land.' The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the Chief Assessor was entitled to disregard the pre-sales when assessing the land's value.

1. Case Overview

1.1 Court

Court of Appeal

1.2 Outcome

Appeal Allowed

1.3 Case Type

Tax

1.4 Judgment Type

Grounds of Decision

1.5 Jurisdiction

Singapore

1.6 Description

The Court of Appeal addressed the interpretation of 'vacant land' in the Property Tax Act, ruling pre-sales should be disregarded when assessing property value.

1.7 Decision Date

24 April 2013

2. Parties and Outcomes

Party Name	Role	Type	Outcome	Outcome Type	Counsels
Chief Assessor	Appellant	Government Agency	Appeal Allowed	Won	Pang Mei Yu of Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Quek Hui Ling of Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Lau Kai Lee of Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Joyce Chee of Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Glengary Pte Ltd	Respondent	Corporation	Appeal Dismissed	Lost	Tan Kay Kheng of WongPartnership LLP Tan Shao Tong of WongPartnership LLP Novella Chan of WongPartnership LLP Jeremiah Soh of WongPartnership LLP

3. Judges

Judge Name	Title	Delivered Judgment
Sundaresh Menon	Chief Justice	No
Chao Hick Tin	Justice of the Court of Appeal	Yes
Andrew Ang	Judge	No

4. Counsels

Counsel Name	Organization
Pang Mei Yu	Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Quek Hui Ling	Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Lau Kai Lee	Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Joyce Chee	Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Tan Kay Kheng	WongPartnership LLP
Tan Shao Tong	WongPartnership LLP
Novella Chan	WongPartnership LLP
Jeremiah Soh	WongPartnership LLP

4. Facts

Glengary Pte Ltd acquired a 99-year lease of land in 2002.
Glengary began pre-sales of residential units in The Sail in October 2004.
Construction of The Sail began on 22 November 2004.
By the end of 2005, Glengary had sold most of the residential units in The Sail.
The Chief Assessor increased the annual value of the land in 2007 and 2008.
Glengary objected to the assessment, arguing that pre-sales should be considered.
The property market had moved significantly upwards between 2005 and 2007/2008.

5. Formal Citations

Chief Assessor v Glengary Pte Ltd, Civil Appeal No 132 of 2012/Z, [2013] SGCA 30
Glengary Pte Ltd v Chief Assessor, , [2012] 4 SLR 1130

6. Timeline

Date	Event
2002-08-12	Respondent acquired a 99-year lease of the Land from the State.
2003-12-01	Respondent submitted an application for provisional permission to build residential and retail units.
2004-02-01	Provisional approval for the development plan was granted.
2004-10-01	Respondent began pre-sales of residential units in The Sail.
2004-11-22	Construction began on The Sail.
2007-01-01	Last of the residential units were sold.
2007-04-01	Appellant issued a notice increasing the annual value of the Land.
2007-05-02	Respondent objected to the assessment.
2008-01-01	Property valuation notice for 2008 valued the Land at $59,091,000.
2008-05-29	Temporary Occupation Permits for phase 1 of The Sail were issued.
2008-09-29	Temporary Occupation Permits for phase 2 of The Sail were issued.
2008-10-23	Respondent objected to the 2008 assessment.
2009-04-17	Certificate of Statutory Completion was issued.
2009-08-28	Respondent’s objections to the valuation of the Land for 2007 were disallowed.
2009-08-29	Respondent’s objections to the valuation of the Land for 2008 were disallowed.
2009-11-04	Respondent filed its skeletal outline report with the VRB.
2011-01-01	The Respondent appealed the VRB’s decision by way of Originating Summons No 1075 of 2011 to the High Court.
2013-04-25	Judgment reserved.

7. Legal Issues

Interpretation of 'Vacant Land' in Property Tax Act
- Outcome: The court held that the Chief Assessor was entitled to disregard the pre-sales when assessing the value of the land.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Consideration of pre-sales in valuation
  - Relevance of encumbrances on land
  - Application of statutory fiction
- Related Cases:
  - [2012] 4 SLR 1130
Valuation of Property for Tax Purposes
- Outcome: The court emphasized that land must be valued according to prevailing market conditions at the time of the valuation.
- Category: Substantive
- Sub-Issues:
  - Determination of annual value
  - Consideration of market conditions
  - Relevance of potential land use

8. Remedies Sought

Reduction of annual value assessment

9. Cause of Actions

No cause of actions

10. Practice Areas

Taxation Law
Appeals
Real Estate Law

11. Industries

Real Estate
Construction

12. Cited Cases

Case Name	Court	Affirmed	Citation	Jurisdiction	Significance
Glengary Pte Ltd v Chief Assessor	High Court	Yes	[2012] 4 SLR 1130	Singapore	The High Court decision that was reversed on appeal. It held that pre-sales could be taken into account when determining the annual value of the land.
Chief Assessor v Town and City Properties Ltd	N/A	Yes	[1965-1967] SLR(R) 477	Singapore	Overturned by the Property Tax (Amendment) Act (Act 24 of 1965). Clarified that the Chief Assessor had the discretion to assess the value of land which was in the process of development as vacant land.
Shell Eastern Petroleum Pte Ltd v Chief Assessor	N/A	Yes	[1998] 3 SLR(R) 874	Singapore	Cited for the principle that measuring the value of a plot of land by reference to its hypothetical rental value measures the actual use and occupation of the land.
Dawkins (Valuation Officer) v Ash Brothers and Heaton Ltd	N/A	Yes	[1969] 2 AC 366	N/A	Cited for the principle that rating seeks a standard by which every hereditament in this country can be measured in relation to every other hereditament.
Bata Shoe Co Ltd v Chief Assessor	N/A	Yes	[1959-86] SPTC 71	Singapore	Cited for the principle that s 2(3)(b) of the Act was not introduced to provide a wholly different measure; it was intended to provide an alternative method of assessing annual value to the one based on reasonably obtainable rental which proved inadequate in particular situations.
Union of India v Jalyan Udyog	Supreme Court of India	Yes	1994 (1) SCC 318	India	Cited for the principle that where a fiction is created by a provision of law, the court must give full effect to the fiction.
Alrich Development Pte Ltd v Rafiq Jumabhoy	N/A	Yes	[1993] 1 SLR(R) 598	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the caveat scheme is merely a procedure which precludes dealings in land which are conflicting with the rights of the caveator.
The Asiatic Enterprises (Pte) Ltd v United Overseas Bank Ltd	N/A	Yes	[1999] 3 SLR(R) 976	Singapore	Cited for the principle that the caveat scheme is merely a procedure which precludes dealings in land which are conflicting with the rights of the caveator.

13. Applicable Rules

Rule Name
No applicable rules

14. Applicable Statutes

Statute Name	Jurisdiction
Property Tax Act (Cap 254, 2005 Rev Ed)	Singapore
Property Tax Act (Cap 254, 2005 Rev Ed) s 2(3)(b)	Singapore
Property Tax Act (Cap 254, 2005 Rev Ed) s 2(1)	Singapore
Property Tax Act (Cap 254, 2005 Rev Ed) s 20(1)	Singapore

15. Key Terms and Keywords

15.1 Key Terms

Vacant land
Pre-sales
Annual value
Property tax
Statutory fiction
Encumbrance
Valuation List
Capital value
Development potential

15.2 Keywords

Property tax
Vacant land
Pre-sales
Land valuation
Singapore
Chief Assessor
Glengary
Property Tax Act

17. Areas of Law

Area Name	Relevance Score
Property Tax	90
Revenue Law	80
Property Law	75
Statutory Interpretation	60
Contract Law	30

16. Subjects

Property Tax
Land Valuation
Real Estate
Tax Assessment