1.37 million Singaporeans to get GST voucher of up to 200SGD in Nov

Published on Authored by Ashraf Jamal

As a helping gesture, about 1.37 million eligible Singaporeans will be getting a one-off GST voucher of up to SGD200 this month, announced the Ministry of Finance (MOF) today.

The announcement of the GST Voucher – Cash Special Payment was first made during the presentation of the Budget this year. The main purpose of the vouchers is to help lower-income households offset some expenses.

The main purpose of GST voucher is to help lower-income households offset some of their expenses.
The main purpose of GST voucher is to help lower-income households offset some of their expenses. Photo: Connected to India

To fulfill the eligibility criteria, a Singaporean should be at least 21 years old and earn less than SGD28,000 a year, provided that the annual value of his or her home does not exceed SGD21,000.

The total sum that will be doled out through GST vouchers comes to SGD280 million. For those who have already signed up for the GST Voucher or past government payout schemes, this comes on top of the payout of up to SGD300 that they were given in August. They do not need to take further action to receive the latest payout.

GST Voucher Scheme

GST Voucher is a permanent scheme that aims to help lower-income Singaporeans cope with living costs associated with the Goods & Service Tax (GST). The GST voucher has three components including Cash, U-Save (Utilities-Save) and Medisave. The scheme was introduced in the Singapore budget 2012.

Under GST voucher cash, lower-income Singaporeans receive cash payout from the government. The U-Save scheme provides lower and middle-income Singaporean HDB households quarterly rebates on their utilities bills. In 2017, there will be an increase of SDD40 to 120 to the annual amount of U-Save rebate.

Under the Medisave, old people of Singapore aged 65 years and above receive a top-up in their Medisave account. This is paid during August.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has reminded eligible Singaporeans who have yet to sign up for the GST – Cash/Medisave and GST – 5-year Medisave top-up to do so by December 31.

They would have received earlier notifications, sent via an SMS or a letter in July, to inform them of this.

Reminder letters and SMS notifications will be sent out in the coming weeks, the ministry added.

More details on the GST Voucher scheme can be found at www.gstvoucher.gov.sg.