The ones registered in Ireland, provided you are not a US citizen and do not live permanently in the US. Buying on SGX does not protect you by itself. The S&P 500 fund already on SGX, SPDR S&P 500 (code S27), is registered in the US, so the US can tax it when its owner dies.
What changed on 13 October is access. Since that Tuesday, four index funds registered in Ireland, one tracking the S&P 500, trade on SGX in Singapore dollars, and SRS money can buy them. The eight-listing comparison shows the repeated companies inside the funds and compares the full cost of buying the same fund on SGX or overseas. Compared with S27, the Irish S&P 500 fund carries no US estate tax, which on S$100,000 of S27 would be about S$6,071, and costs an estimated 0.19% a year less. If you already own an Irish fund overseas, the gain is small, and switching can cost more than it saves.
Disclosure
This article is not sponsored and carries no affiliate or partner links. The partner-link note in the sidebar is a site-wide statement and applies to no link on this page. Some launch coverage in circulation is sponsored by the funds' distributor; none of it is a source here.
What changes, and what does not
A fund is a company or a trust, and its domicile is the country where it is registered: its legal home. If you are not a US citizen and do not live permanently in the US, the US can tax the American assets you own at death. The tax starts above US$60,000 and rises to 40%. The tax calls these US-situated assets, and they include US shares and US-registered funds. The estate piece has the mechanics. Shares in an Irish-registered fund do not count, even when the fund holds the same American companies.
Irish funds are not new. They have traded for years on overseas exchanges such as London, including the same Xtrackers S&P 500 share class at the same 0.03% fee. Buying them needed access to that overseas market, usually in US dollars. Whether that meant a second broker depended on the account you already had.
The new part is SRS, the Supplementary Retirement Scheme: a voluntary retirement account whose contributions reduce your taxable income. SGX states that SRS money can buy any ETF listed on SGX, through a broker linked to the SRS account. S27 is second in SGX’s table of the ten ETFs held by SRS investors, as of October 2025. Since 13 October, the same exchange also lists Irish-domiciled funds. CPF money is a different case: none of the four is on CPF Board’s list of included ETFs, last updated 17 September 2025.
| SGX counter (code) | Tracks | Fund fee a year |
|---|---|---|
| XT S&P 500 SGD (XUS) | S&P 500 | 0.03% |
| XT NASDAQ 100 SGD (XND) | Nasdaq-100 | 0.20% |
| XT MS World SGD (XWR) | MSCI World | 0.12% |
| XT S&P 500 EW SGD (EUS) | S&P 500 Equal Weight | 0.15% |
DWS all-in fees at 31 August 2026. Each SGX line is an existing share class of an existing fund, not a new fund. Codes are to be confirmed on SGX at listing.
Fund details: ISINs, launch dates, fund sizes and factsheets.
- S&P 500: Xtrackers S&P 500 UCITS ETF 4C, ISIN IE000Z9SJA06. Fund launched 27 February 2015; this share class 8 June 2022. Whole fund US$4.15bn, all listings together. Full physical replication. DWS factsheet, 31 August 2026.
- Nasdaq-100: Xtrackers NASDAQ 100 UCITS ETF 1C, ISIN IE00BMFKG444. Launched 21 January 2021. Whole fund US$2.56bn. Full physical replication. DWS factsheet.
- MSCI World: Xtrackers MSCI World UCITS ETF 1C, ISIN IE00BJ0KDQ92. Launched 22 July 2014. Whole fund US$30.87bn. Optimised physical replication: it holds most, not all, of the index. DWS factsheet.
- S&P 500 Equal Weight: Xtrackers S&P 500 Equal Weight UCITS ETF 1C, ISIN IE00BLNMYC90. Launched 10 June 2014. Whole fund US$16.42bn. Full physical replication. DWS factsheet.
- All four are accumulating (dividends reinvested, not paid out) and not currency-hedged. The prospectus lists each SGX line under the same ISIN as its London and Xetra lines.
Three S&P 500 funds on one basis
The comparison adds two costs: the fund’s annual fee, and the part of US dividends lost to US tax. A US fund’s ordinary dividend distributions to a Singapore holder generally lose 30%, and S27 pays its dividends out after deducting its fees. An Irish fund loses 15% of its US dividends under the US–Ireland tax treaty, inside the fund. With the S&P 500 yielding 1.04% (22 September 2026), the estimates are:
| Fund (registered in; where it trades) | Fee + dividend tax a year | On S$100,000 a year | US estate tax on S$100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| S27 (US; SGX, in US$) | 0.38% | S$378 | about S$6,071 |
| CSPX (Ireland; London, in US$) | 0.23% | S$226 | none |
| Xtrackers S&P 500 4C (Ireland; SGX, in S$) | 0.19% | S$186 | none |
Estimates under stated assumptions, not measured performance. They leave out tracking difference, securities-lending income, and platform, custody and dealing costs. The estate column assumes a holder who is neither a US citizen nor US-domiciled, with this as their only US-situated asset, at S$1.2775 per US dollar (18 September 2026).
Against S27, the fee-and-tax difference is about 0.19% a year (S$192 on S$100,000), before dealing costs. A lower fee does not guarantee an equal difference in returns; how closely each fund tracks the index decides that.
The larger difference is the estate tax. S27 held at death is taxed on everything above US$60,000, at rates that climb to 40%, so the bill grows faster than the holding. The Irish funds are not taxed at all:
| Held at death | US estate tax: S27 | US estate tax: Irish fund |
|---|---|---|
| S$100,000 | S$6,071 (6% of the holding) | none |
| S$300,000 | S$67,639 (23%) | none |
| S$500,000 | S$135,252 (27%) | none |
For a holder who is neither a US citizen nor US-domiciled, with this as their only US-situated asset, at S$1.2775 per US dollar (18 September 2026). Other US shares or US funds add to the same total.
The fee difference is paid every year you hold. The estate tax is paid once, by your family, and only if you die holding the US fund.
If you already hold an Irish fund overseas
You already have the same estate-tax treatment. The SGX line does not improve it.
The fee saving depends on what you hold. Against CSPX it is 0.04% a year: a 0.07% fee against 0.03%, or S$40 on S$100,000. Against the same Xtrackers share class in London, it is nothing: same fund, same fee.
A switch is a sale and a purchase, each with a commission and a spread, and possibly a currency conversion. If those came to 0.2% of the holding, a saving of 0.04% a year would take about five years to recover; at 0.4%, about ten. That assumes both funds track the index equally well. Their reported tracking differences show whether they do.
The other three funds
The same estate treatment applies to all four: each is registered in Ireland, listed on SGX in Singapore dollars on 13 October, and is open to SRS money. They track different things.
What the listing does not change
Tax on death: what Irish registration settles
Two conditions matter. If the holder is neither a US citizen nor US-domiciled, US estate tax reaches only US-situated assets, and the Irish unit is not one. If neither the holder nor the heir is domiciled or ordinarily resident in Ireland, each tested at their own relevant date, Ireland’s inheritance tax exempts units in Irish funds. Singapore removed estate duty for deaths from 15 February 2008. Under those conditions, no estate or inheritance tax falls on the unit itself.
SRS is different. When an SRS account holder dies, the whole balance is treated as withdrawn on that date. Up to S$400,000 is exempt, less if withdrawals had begun, and half of the rest is taxed as the holder’s income. That is income tax, not estate duty, and it applies whatever the account holds.
The paperwork is also separate from the tax. The IRS transfer certificate, a clearance that US assets can pass, asks for a list of every US asset the person held, whatever its tax status. An Irish fund takes the holding out of the US tax; it does not settle every document a custodian may ask the family for.
In plain English: where the fund is registered settles the estate-tax question. It does not settle the SRS income tax or the paperwork.
A check for this week
- Find where each fund is registered. It is on the fund’s factsheet. A fund’s ISIN, its international security code, usually starts with that country: US for S27, IE for the Irish funds.
- Add up your US-situated holdings across every account, cash and SRS, against the US$60,000 threshold. The threshold counts all of them together, including shares of US companies held directly.
- Price any change before making it. Commissions, spreads and currency conversion, set against the fee difference.
- Tell someone where the accounts are. A list of accounts is the cheapest part of an estate plan.
The rule has not changed. What changed on 13 October is which accounts can reach a fund on the other side of it.
Try your own numbers (optional): your holding, how long you hold it, and your broker’s dealing costs.
Same basis as the tables above. The exchange rate refreshes when the site is built, so results can differ slightly from the fixed examples.
Dealing costs: illustrative, change them to your broker’s
One-off costs to buy and to sell, as a percentage of the holding: commission, half the spread, and any currency conversion. The new SGX line’s spread cannot be seen until it lists on 13 October 2026.
| Fund | Buying % | Selling % |
|---|---|---|
| S27US fund · SGX, in US$ | ||
| CSPXIrish fund · London, in US$ | ||
| Xtrackers S&P 500 4CIrish fund · SGX, in S$ |
How this is calculated
Fee and dividend tax. Fund fee plus the US dividend tax: 15% of the index dividend yield for the Irish funds, inside the fund; 30% of the yield after S27’s fee, because S27 pays dividends out net of its fees. Fees: S27 0.0945% (SSGA, 22 September 2026); CSPX 0.07% and Xtrackers 0.03% (factsheets, 31 August 2026). An estimate, not measured performance: it leaves out tracking difference, securities-lending income, platform and custody fees, and the exceptions to the 30% rate.
Estate figure. The published US schedule less the US$13,000 credit, for a holder who is neither a US citizen nor US-domiciled and has no other US-situated asset. Converted at S$1 = US$0.7806, US Federal Reserve H.10 weekly release, as at 9 October 2026. This rate refreshes when the site is built; the article’s fixed examples use 18 September 2026.
What this is not. Advice or a ranking. The funds stay in a fixed order; the numbers are facts about fees, a tax estimate and a tax schedule on your inputs.
a theenoughpoint.com toolMethod and assumptions: what the estimates include and leave out.
- Fee plus dividend tax. Irish funds: fee + 15% × index dividend yield. S27: fee + 30% × (index dividend yield − fee), because S27 distributes dividends net of its fees and expenses; if the yield is at or below the fee, the dividend tax is taken as zero. At 1.04%: S27 0.0945% + 0.284% = 0.378%; CSPX 0.07% + 0.156% = 0.226%; Xtrackers 0.03% + 0.156% = 0.186%.
- The 30% rate is the general US rate on ordinary dividends a US fund pays a holder with no tax treaty. IRS Publication 515 and the fund’s prospectus describe exceptions, such as distributions paid out of US interest or short-term capital gains; the estimate ignores them.
- The 15% rate applies to US-source dividends received by an Irish fund. It says nothing about the non-US dividends of the MSCI World fund.
- Left out: tracking difference, securities-lending income, platform and custody fees, and dealing costs (the calculator adds the last as inputs).
- Estate figures apply the published US rate schedule less the US$13,000 credit, to a holder who is neither a US citizen nor US-domiciled, with no other US-situated assets. Holding in S$ is converted to US$, taxed in US$ and converted back. Body examples use S$1.2775 per US dollar (18 September 2026); the calculator uses the rate refreshed at each site build.
- Spreads. Buying at the offer costs half the quoted spread against the midpoint between buy and sell prices, not necessarily against the fund’s net asset value. Recovery years = extra one-off cost ÷ annual saving, both as a share of the holding: 0.20% ÷ 0.192% a year ≈ 1.0 year against S27; 0.20% ÷ 0.04% a year = 5 years against CSPX.
- Transfer certificate. The IRS says it takes 12 to 18 months to process a request made without a Form 706-NA return, counted from when it has every document. That is a processing time, not a timetable for settling an estate or releasing assets.
Sources and verification: primary where it matters, checked 23 September 2026.
- Listing terms (Irish domicile, UCITS, SGX listing from 13 October 2026 in SGD, market maker Flow Traders Asia, share classes not currency-hedged, no dividend payments): the Singapore prospectus registered by MAS on 14 September 2026 (document) and its product highlights sheets of the same date (S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, MSCI World, S&P 500 Equal Weight).
- Fees and fund sizes: DWS factsheets at 31 August 2026, linked in the fund details above. The Singapore highlights sheets show higher expense ratios for calendar 2025 (0.05% / 0.20% / 0.15% / 0.20%) and footnote a change in the all-in fee during 2025 for three of the four. Sizes are whole-fund figures across all listings, not SGX-line assets.
- Comparators: CSPX factsheet (iShares, 0.07%, 31 August 2026); S27 fund page (SSGA, gross expense ratio 0.0945%, 22 September 2026). S27 distributions “net of fees and expenses”: SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust prospectus.
- Dividend tax rates: 15% on US dividends paid to Irish residents, IRS Tax Treaty Table 1 (rev. May 2023); 30% general rate and its exceptions, IRS Publication 515.
- S&P 500 dividend yield 1.04% at the close on 22 September 2026: multpl.com, a secondary source. The calculator lets you replace it.
- US estate rule (threshold, US$13,000 credit, and non-US corporate stock treated as located outside the US): IRS Instructions for Form 706-NA (rev. 09/2025); rate schedule per the Form 706 instructions. Transfer certificate: IRS, transfer certificate filing requirements.
- Irish exemption for fund units: Irish Revenue, CAT Manual Part 9, section 5, on section 75 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 (updated February 2026).
- Singapore: estate duty removed for deaths on and after 15 February 2008, IRAS; SRS balance deemed withdrawn on death, up to S$400,000 exempt and 50% of the remainder taxable, IRAS, tax on SRS withdrawals.
- SRS and SGX: “SRS account holders can invest in any ETFs that are listed on SGX”, and the table of top ten ETFs held by SRS investors (as of October 2025): SGX.
- CPF: CPF Board, List A of included ETFs (updated 17 September 2025).
- Exchange rate: S$1.2775 per US dollar, Federal Reserve H.10 via FRED, 18 September 2026.
- Every computed figure in the body and the calculator’s default totals are reproduced by the script behind this piece.
Soft spots: what we could not confirm.
- Three SGX codes. The prospectus prints XND’s code. XUS, XWR and EUS come from the distributor’s announcement of 21 September 2026 and were not on SGX’s securities list on 23 September.
- Opening spreads, and whether each SRS operator and broker enables these counters from the first day.
- The 1.04% dividend yield is from one secondary source.
- Securities lending. Two DWS documents give different splits of lending revenue (70/15/15 and 82/9/9).
- The SRS unit-trust alternative. S&P 500 index unit trusts sold for SRS money exist; their costs vary by platform and share class and are not compared here.
Deliberately not claimed: that anyone should buy, hold, sell or switch any fund named here. The funds are named as checkable examples, in a fixed order that is not a ranking. No view on the direction of the S&P 500, the Nasdaq-100 or the US dollar. No view on jointly held accounts on death.
General information and education only: this is not financial, tax or legal advice, and it takes no account of your objectives, situation or needs. Estate matters depend on citizenship, domicile and residence, on wills, and on rules that change; a qualified adviser earns their fee here. Figures are computed from the sources above; verify the current position before relying on them.
