1.5 million adult Singaporeans to receive up to $850 in cash and 650,000 Singaporeans aged 65 and above to receive up to $450 in MediSave top-ups in August 2024

  $1.4 billion of support will be disbursed as part of the permanent GST Voucher Scheme

1.  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 (see Annex A for summary of benefits).

2.  The 2024 GSTV disbursement will amount to a total of $1.4 billion in GSTV – Cash and GSTV – MediSave, which is around $200 million more than last year.

GSTV – Cash

3.  In August 2024, about 1.5 million eligible adult Singaporeans will receive up to $850 in cash from the enhanced GSTV – Cash announced at Budget 2023 by Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong.

4.  Those who are eligible will receive $850 or $450, depending on their Annual Value of home. This means that all eligible recipients will receive an additional $150 or $100, as compared to last year.

GSTV – MediSave

5.  As part of GSTV – MediSave, about 650,000 eligible adult Singaporeans aged 65 and above in 2024 will receive up to $450 which will be credited to their CPF MediSave Accounts in August 2024.

Eligibility

6.  Eligible recipients of the GSTV – Cash and GSTV – MediSave will automatically receive the payment if they have signed up for Government disbursement schemes (see details on the various GSTV components in Annex B). 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.

7.  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 hardcopy 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

8.  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. Citizens are encouraged to register for PayNow-NRIC with their banks by 22 July 2024 if they have accounts with the twelve participating banks in Singapore¹. By doing so, eligible citizens will be able to receive their 2024 GSTV earlier, in early August 2024.

9.   Those without PayNow-NRIC linked bank accounts may update their bank account information (with DBS/POSB, OCBC or UOB only) at 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

10.   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.

11.   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

12.   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.

13.   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.

Contact Information

14.   For more information on the above schemes, the contact details are as follows:

¹  List of participating banks for PayNow-NRIC are listed in alphabetical order: 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.

Issued by:

Ministry of Finance

Singapore

4 July 2024