(Image credit: Tan Wei Jie)
$1 BILLION OF GST VOUCHERS AND MEDISAVE TOP-UPS FOR 1.6 MILLION SINGAPOREANS
The Ministry of Finance has announced in a press release that a total of 1.6 million eligible citizens will receive notifications by 6 July 2018 on their 2018 GST Voucher (GSTV) benefits and MediSave top-ups. Citizens may also use SingPass to view their GSTV – Cash and MediSave benefits online at www.gstvoucher.gov.sg. Similar to the notification exercise last year, citizens with mobile numbers updated with SingPass will receive SMS notifications. Other recipients will receive letter notifications. This will bring about convenience to citizens and will also be more eco-friendly.
GST Voucher Scheme
2 The GSTV is a permanent scheme introduced in 2012 to provide targeted assistance to Singaporeans to offset some of their GST expenses. GSTV and GST form an important part of Singapore’s progressive system of taxes and transfers (see infographic in Annex A).
Individual Benefits
GSTV – Cash
3 About 1.39 million eligible Singaporeans will receive up to $300 in GSTV – Cash in August 2018. The GSTV – Cash payments will amount to $410 million in total. To receive payouts directly into their bank accounts, eligible citizens are encouraged to update their bank account details at www.gstvoucher.gov.sg if they have not already done so, as cheque payments will take two weeks longer to process.
MediSave Top-Ups
4 About 485,000 Singaporeans aged 65 years and above in 2018 will receive up to $450 in GSTV – MediSave of in August 2018. The top-ups will amount to about $144 million in total.
5 In addition, Singaporeans who are born on or before 31 December 1959 (59 years and above in 2018) and do not receive Pioneer Generation (PG) benefits will receive a MediSave top-up of up to $200 in 2018. The top-up will benefit about 520,000 citizens, and cost $95 million. It will be credited into eligible citizens’ MediSave accounts in August 2018. In total:
• A non-Pioneer aged 65 in 2018 living in an HDB flat[1] can receive $450 of MediSave top-ups this year.
6 Pioneers will also receive their PG MediSave top-ups[2] of between $200 to $800 in July 2018. Considering both the PG MediSave and GSTV – MediSave:
• A Pioneer aged 75 in 2018 living in an HDB flat1 will receive $750 of MediSave top-ups;
• A Pioneer aged 85 in 2018 living in an HDB flat1 will receive $1,250 of MediSave top-ups.
SG Bonus
7 In addition to the GSTV scheme, as announced at Budget 2018, Singaporeans aged 21 and above in 2018 can receive an SG Bonus of up to $300 at the end of the year. Eligible citizens will receive a notification letter on their SG Bonus benefits by October 2018.
Household Benefits
GSTV – U-Save
8 The GSTV – U-Save is given every three months to help offset utilities bills directly. As announced at Budget 2018, eligible HDB households will receive an additional U-Save of $20 a year from 2019 to 2021. The GSTV – U-Save benefits will amount to about $280 million annually and benefit about 900,000 eligible Singaporean HDB households.
One-off Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) Rebate
9 The one-off S&CC rebate was announced at Budget 2018 to provide additional support to households. Around 900,000 eligible Singaporean HDB households will receive 1.5 to 3.5 months of S&CC rebate between April 2018 to January 2019, depending on their HDB flat type[3].
What this means for you
10 Most citizens will automatically receive their GSTV payouts if they had signed up for the GSTV or any other government payout scheme in the past. For the small number of citizens who have not signed up for the GSTV or past government payouts, they have until 31 December 2018 to sign up online, or through a hardcopy form (found at the Community Centres). Please see Annex B for more information on the benefits and Annex C for examples of three Singaporean archetypes, including the household benefits they will receive.
Contact Information
11 Details on the GSTV can be found at www.gstvoucher.gov.sg, and information on the other benefits announced at Budget 2018 can be found at www.singaporebudget.gov.sg. If you require more information, the contact details are as follows:
More information on Assessable Income and Annual Value of Home:
To find out how much you are eligible for, you can log on to https://www.gstvoucher.gov.sg with your SingPass.
You will then see something like this:
* Remember to update your payment mode.
