JOHOR BARU: Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has dismissed claims that a massive tax bill exceeding US$1bil (RM4.05bil) is clouding his plans to sell 16.6ha of land in Singapore.

Tunku Ismail, who is also the Johor Crown Prince, took to X to say that he has no qualms about paying taxes.

“As a regular taxpayer, this is normal. No complication and more than happy to contribute to both countries. Should make it double,” he said on Thursday (Sept 3) in reply to an account that posted a news report about the tax bill.

Bloomberg recently reported that the land deal would incur a land betterment charge of over US$1bil, which was said to be clouding the sale of the land.

In June 2025, a land swap deal was agreed between the Johor Regent and the Singapore government. Following this, the Johor Regent then owned 16.6ha of land on Holland Road.

In March this year, news reports highlighted Tunku Ismail’s plans to develop residential properties at Holland Road following the land swap.

Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority stated that the Johor Regent plans to develop the land parcels for residential use, such as low-rise, low-density housing with a gross plot ratio of 1.4 as well as good class bungalows.