Leaving Singapore, arriving or moving back, done in the right order.
Plain-English guides to tax clearance, breaking a lease early, what your mover won’t ship, and what to do with everything that isn’t coming with you. Each one is checked against the official source.
Leaving Singapore
Tax clearance, your lease, your shipment and everything that isn’t coming with you: what to do, and by when.
Moving to Singapore, or moving back
Your first move into a Singapore rental, and what to sort out when you come home after years away.
For HR and relocation teams
What a Singapore departure involves beyond the shipment, and the checklist to hand an employee who’s leaving.
Leaving Singapore, step by step
All leaving guidesLeaving Singapore: the countdown from three months out
Start about three months out. Lease notice and mover surveys come first, because they fix every other date. Your employer files IR21 at least a month before your last day. Sell and give things away early, clear and clean the flat in the final week, and keep a bank account open for refunds.
Read the guide →What to ship, sell, store or throw away when you leave Singapore
Decide before the international mover's survey, since the quote is built on the volume the surveyor records. Ship what suits your destination's voltage and is costly to replace, sell or donate the rest early, store only if you expect to return, and book collections ahead, because free options have limits.
Read the guide →What your international mover won't ship, and what to do with it
Aerosols, paint, gas cylinders and lithium batteries are dangerous goods in transport, and weapons and wildlife products such as ivory need permits, so get your mover's prohibited list before you pack. Australia and the US also restrict food, plants and soil. Use up, recycle, donate or give away what can't go.
Read the guide →Breaking a lease early in Singapore: how the diplomatic clause works
A diplomatic clause is a term in your tenancy agreement, not a law. Where there is one, it lets you end the lease early if you're transferred out of Singapore, stop being employed or are ordered to leave, but only after an agreed number of months, with notice and proof. Check your own agreement for the terms.
Read the guide →IR21 tax clearance: what your employer files when you leave Singapore
If you're not a Singapore citizen and you stop work, are posted overseas or leave Singapore for more than three months, your employer must file Form IR21 with IRAS at least a month ahead and withhold all money due to you. IRAS works out your tax; your employer pays it from that money and releases any balance to you.
Read the guide →Your last two weeks in Singapore, after the shipment has gone
If the lease ends first, book a hotel or serviced apartment. Clear the flat before handover, agree who closes the SP Group account, deal with the car, redirect mail and keep a bank account open. Once your pass is cancelled you can't work; a Short-Term Visit Pass covers up to 90 days after an EP or 30 after an S Pass.
Read the guide →Who ships your things overseas?
Relocado doesn’t move anything overseas. For the international leg, the directory lists Singapore’s international movers, relocation companies and pet relocation specialists. They’re listed alphabetically, from each company’s own website, and nobody pays to be there.
Browse the directoryWho runs Relocado
The team behind three Singapore businesses. Where a guide needs one of them, it links there and says so. For everything else (tax, passes, leases, customs) it links to the official source.
- Junk to Clear: A Singapore disposal company that clears anything from a single sofa to a whole flat, including clear-outs for people leaving Singapore.
- HomeToMoved: Matches you with vetted, insured movers for moves within Singapore. It doesn’t handle international moves.
- HomeToClean: Matches you with vetted cleaners, including move-out cleaning before you hand back a rental.