Over $450 Million in Wage Credits for More Than 95,000 Employers by 30 June 2020
11 Jun 2020Over 95,000 employers in Singapore will receive over $450 million in payouts by 30 June 2020 under the Wage Credit Scheme (WCS).
2 Through the WCS payouts in June 2020, the Government will co-fund 20% of qualifying wage increases given in 2019, 2018, and 2017 to more than 800,000 Singaporean employees earning a gross monthly wage of up to $5,000.
3 In Budget 2020, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat enhanced the WCS to support wage increases for Singaporean workers. The Government co-funding levels for qualifying wage increases in 2019 and 2020 was raised by five percentage points to 20% and 15% respectively. The gross monthly wage ceiling was also raised from $4,000 to $5,000 for both years, which enabled more to qualify for the wage credit. Employers eligible for the Budget 2020 enhancements will receive the supplementary payout for the enhancement in June 2020.
4 Employers do not need to apply to receive the WCS payouts. Eligible employers will receive letters from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) by 30 June 2020 informing them of their payout amount. In line with Singapore’s Smart Nation efforts, IRAS has fully adopted digital payment modes for WCS payouts, and will no longer issue cheques. As such, the payouts will be credited directly to employers’ registered bank accounts through PayNow Corporate[1] or GIRO[2].
5 Any appeals regarding WCS payouts must be submitted to IRAS by 31 August 2020, and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
6 Please refer to the Annex (
309 KB) for details on the WCS. For
more information, you may visit the IRAS website (www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/wcs.aspx), or contact IRAS directly at 1800-352-4727 or email wcs@iras.gov.sg.
Issued by:
Ministry of Finance
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Singapore
11 June 2020
[1] Companies can sign up for PayNow Corporate by linking their company’s UEN (without suffix) to their bank account via internet banking. For assistance, please approach the banks.
[2] Once registered for GIRO for Income Tax/GST, this will be the default payment mode for IRAS’ related transactions such as tax payments.
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