1.6 Million Singaporeans to Receive Letters on the 2015 GST Voucher and Other Budget Benefits in July

1. 1.6 million Singaporeans will receive letters from the first week of July informing them of their 2015 GST Voucher (GSTV) benefits, as well as other Budget benefits such as the 5-Year Medisave top-up and the Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates. Details on the benefits are in

Annex A (218 KB).

Individual benefits

GSTV – Cash (1.3 million Singaporeans)

2. In Budget 2015, the Government announced a permanent increase of $50 in the annual GST Voucher – Cash quantum to help lower-income households with their cost of living. Eligible Singaporeans will receive up to $300 in GST Voucher – Cash in 2015. (This excludes the GSTV – Seniors’ Bonus.) About 1.3 million Singaporeans will receive the GSTV – Cash on 1 August 2015.

One-off GSTV – Seniors’ Bonus (660,000 older Singaporeans)

3. In addition, a GSTV – Seniors’ Bonus will be provided to the many older Singaporeans to help them with their daily expenses. This comes on top of the GSTV – Cash, and will benefit more than 660,000 older Singaporeans.

· Eligible seniors aged 55 – 64 years can receive up to $300 GSTV – Seniors’ Bonus

· Eligible seniors aged 65 years and above can receive up to $600 GSTV – Seniors’ Bonus

4. Including the GSTV – Cash component, this means that eligible older seniors aged 65 years and above^[1] will receive a total of $900 in cash in 2015, which will be disbursed in two tranches: $600 in August 2015 and $300 in November 2015. This will be helpful to these older seniors.

5. The GSTV – Seniors’ Bonus is being provided for 2015. In the meantime, the details and implementation are being worked out for the permanent Silver Support scheme, which will begin next year.

GSTV – Medisave (400,000 Singaporeans)

6. About 400,000 Singaporeans aged 65 years and above will also receive the GSTV –Medisave of up to $450 on 1 August 2015. 

Additional Medisave top-ups on top of the GSTV Scheme

7. In addition to the GSTV – Medisave, most seniors can receive additional Medisave top-ups:

· Pioneer Generation Medisave Top-Up. For Pioneers, the amount of Pioneer Generation Medisave top-up ranges from $200 to $800 annually. The examples below illustrate the total Medisave top-up that our Pioneers could receive.

· 5-Year Medisave Top-Up Scheme. Singaporeans born on or before 31 Dec 1959 (i.e. aged 56 years and above in 2015), who do not enjoy Pioneer Generation benefits, will receive Medisave top-ups of $100 or $200 annually from 2014 to 2018, as announced in Budget 2014. This will benefit about 528,000 Singaporeans. The vast majority (i.e. those living in HDB flats who do not own more than one property) will get the higher top-up of $200 a year.

Household benefits

GSTV – U-Save (800,000 households)

8. The regular GST Voucher – U-Save is given out quarterly to help offset utilities directly, and costs $180 million annually. This July, over 800,000 eligible households will each receive up to $65, depending on their HDB flat type.

One-off Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebate (800,000 households)

9. The S&CC rebate is given out in April, July, and October this year, and costs $80 million in 2015. This July, around 800,000 eligible households will receive the S&CC rebate which will offset half a month to one month of charges, depending on their HDB flat type.

What this means for you

10. For example, a retiree Pioneer who is 76 years old this year and lives in an HDB flat (and does not own a second property) will receive the benefits below in 2015. A Pioneer couple in the same situation will get $1,800 in cash, and $1,900 in Medisave top-ups.

11. Meanwhile, a lower-income couple in their early 60s living in an HDB flat (and do not own a second property) will hence get $1,200 in cash, and $400 in Medisave top-ups in 2015:

12. A working couple in their 40s, with both the husband and wife each having a monthly salary of $2,000, living in a HDB flat (and do not own a second property), can receive a total of $600 in cash in 2015:

Additional Information

13. Most Singaporeans will automatically receive their GSTV payouts and 5-Year Medisave top-ups. For the small number of citizens who have not signed up for past Government payouts and/or are not CPF members, the letters they receive will inform them of the actions they need to take by 31 December 2015 to receive their benefits.

14. More details on the GST Voucher can be found at www.gstvoucher.gov.sg, and information on the other Budget benefits can be found at www.singaporebudget.gov.sg. If you require more information, the contact details are as follows:

###

^[1] Living in homes with annual values up to $13,000 (i.e. mostly HDB flats).

^[2] $300 GSTV – Cash and $300 GSTV – Seniors’ Bonus.