Stuck positions
How do I realise a tax loss in Singapore on an investment nobody will buy?
To realise a tax loss on an illiquid position in Singapore, you need an actual arm's-length transfer to a third party. We buy the position from you for $1, giving your accountant a real trade confirmation so the loss is recognised in the year of transfer.
A paper write-down on your own books is not a completed disposal. Until a third party actually takes title, the loss stays paper, there's no clean audit line, and the asset keeps distorting your portfolio reporting. The missing piece isn't the IRAS theory, it's the counterparty.
A $1 sale to us is a real transfer. You realise the loss at the difference between your cost basis and $1, in the year the deal closes. The asset comes off your books. We take title and own whatever happens next. Any recovery we make is ours, not retroactively yours.
Your tax adviser still confirms the loss is recognisable on your specific facts. We document the transfer. The positions that fit this structure are illiquid, documented enough to transfer (a loan agreement, an equity certificate, a partnership interest), and small enough that institutional buyers won't bother underwriting them.