Lower- to middle-income Singaporeans and households have been receiving help to defray their GST and daily expenses through the permanent GST Voucher (GSTV) Scheme. This is on top of the other benefits that Singaporeans will receive in Financial Year (FY) 2024. The 2024 GSTV disbursement will amount to a total of SGD 1.4 billion in GSTV – Cash and GSTV – MediSave, which is around SGD 200 million more than last year, an official news release stated.
GSTV – Cash
In August 2024, about 1.5 million eligible adult Singaporeans will receive up to SGD 850 in cash from the enhanced GSTV – Cash announced at Budget 2023 by Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong.
Those who are eligible will receive SGD 850 or SGD 450, depending on their Annual Value of home. This means that all eligible recipients will receive an additional SGD 150 or SGD 100, as compared to 2023.
GSTV – MediSave
As part of GSTV – MediSave, about 650,000 eligible adult Singaporeans aged 65 and above in 2024 will receive up to SGD 450 which will be credited to their CPF MediSave Accounts in August 2024.
Eligibility
Eligible recipients of the GSTV – Cash and GSTV – MediSave will automatically receive the payment if they have signed up for Government disbursement schemes. Citizens may check their eligibility for the GSTV – Cash and GSTV – MediSave benefits at the govbenefits website (govbenefits.gov.sg) by logging in with their Singpass.
Those who have not previously signed up for the GSTV Scheme, can do so at the govbenefits website by 9 July 2024 – they will receive their payments in August 2024. Citizens who sign up after this date and by 20 June 2025, will receive their payments by the end of the following month. Those who have not signed up previously will be notified by end-August 2024 via the Singpass app, SMS, or hard copy letters sent to their NRIC address, if they do not have Singpass app or a Singpass-registered mobile number.
Modes of payment for the 2024 GSTV – Cash
Since 2021, the Ministry of Finance has been using PayNow-NRIC as the primary payment mode for citizens who have linked their NRIC to PayNow. The government has urged citizens to register for PayNow-NRIC with their banks by 22 July 2024 if they have accounts with the twelve participating banks in Singapore. By doing so, eligible citizens will be able to receive their 2024 GSTV earlier, in early August 2024.
Those without PayNow-NRIC linked bank accounts may update their bank account information (with DBS/POSB, OCBC or UOB only) on the govbenefits website by 26 July 2024. Those receiving payments via GIRO will receive the payment from 12 August 2024 onwards.
GovCash – mode of payment for GSTV – Cash
Eligible citizens who have not linked their NRICs to PayNow or provided a valid bank account will receive payment via GovCash. Citizens on GovCash may withdraw their GSTV– Cash at OCBC ATMs island wide by entering their 1) Payment Reference Number (PRN) which can be retrieved via the govbenefits website from 22 August 2024, their 2) NRIC, and after passing the 3) facial verification. They do not require an OCBC bank account to withdraw the payment at the OCBC ATMs.
GovCash recipients may also use the LifeSG app to make payment to merchants by scanning their PayNow or NETS QR code, or transfer payments to their bank accounts via PayNow, if they subsequently register for PayNow-NRIC.
Singpass App as a mode of notification
Eligible recipients will only be notified in August 2024 after their GSTV – Cash and/or GSTV – MediSave has/have been credited. Those who have downloaded and completed their one-time setup on the Singpass app will receive GSTV notifications in their app inbox. Those who have not downloaded nor completed their one-time setup on the Singpass app, but have registered their mobile numbers with Singpass, will receive SMS notifications.
To safeguard against scams, the SMS notification (sent by “gov.sg”) will only inform citizens of their benefits. Citizens will not be asked to reply to the SMS, click any links, or provide any information to the sender. No messages on GSTV will be sent via WhatsApp or other mobile app messaging platforms.
List of participating banks for PayNow-NRIC
The 12 participating banks are Bank of China, CIMB, Citibank, DBS Bank / POSB, HSBC Bank, ICBC, Maybank, OCBC Bank, RHB Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Trust Bank and UOB Bank.
If the PayNow-NRIC is not linked with any of the participating banks, the payment will either be directly credited to the bank account that was previously used for past payments (if any), or via GovCash.
