$890 Million of GST Vouchers and Medisave Top-Ups for 1.54 Million Singaporeans in 2016

Eligible citizens will receive notification letters on their 2016 GST Voucher (GSTV) and other Budget benefits by 1 July 2016. For more convenience and to be notified earlier, citizens are encouraged to sign up for SMS notifications at www.gstvoucher.gov.sg.

Individual benefits

GSTV – Cash and one-off Cash Special Payment

2. About 1.3 million eligible Singaporeans will receive up to $300 in GSTV – Cash. In addition, as announced at Budget 2016, a one-off GSTV – Cash Special Payment of up to $200 will be provided to support households amid current economic conditions.

3. This means that eligible GSTV recipients will receive up to $500 in cash in 2016, which will be disbursed in two payments in August 2016 and November 2016.

Medisave Top-Ups

4. About 425,000 Singaporeans aged 65 years and above will receive the GSTV – Medisave of up to $450 in August 2016.

5. In addition, Singaporeans born on or before 31 December 1959 (57 years and above in 2016) and do not receive Pioneer Generation (PG) benefits will receive a Medisave top-up of up to $200 each year till 2018. The top-up for this year will also be made in August 2016. In total:

• A non-Pioneer aged 65 in 2016 and who is living in an HDB flat (and does not own a second property) can receive $450 of Medisave top-ups this year.

6. Pioneers would also be receiving their PG Medisave top-ups of $200 to $800 in July 2016. Taking both the PG Medisave and GSTV – Medisave together:

• A Pioneer aged 70 in 2016 who is living in an HDB flat (and does not own a second property) will receive $450 of Medisave top-ups;

• A Pioneer aged 85 in 2016 who is living in an HDB flat (and does not own a second property) will receive $1,250 of Medisave top-ups.

What this means for you

7. Please see Annex A ↗ (opens in new tab) (160 KB) for more information on the benefits, and Annex B ↗ (opens in new tab) (120 KB) for examples of three Singaporean archetypes, including the household benefits they will receive.

Go paperless – Sign up for SMS GSTV notifications

8. Citizens can sign up to receive more timely SMS notifications informing them of whether they are eligible for GSTV benefits, instead of waiting for notification letters.

9. All GSTV recipients aged 21 to 35 years old will receive a letter asking them to log in to www.gstvoucher.gov.sg with their SingPass, to view their GSTV benefits and sign up for SMS notifications. A small group of other citizens will also receive such letters, while the remaining recipients will continue to receive letters in the current format which lists all of their benefits. Please see Annex C ↗ (opens in new tab) (155 KB) for more details.

10. The Government will review whether to do away with hardcopy notification letters in future and only send notifications via SMS in order to go paperless and be more eco-friendly.

Who to contact for more information

11 Details on the GSTV can be found at www.gstvoucher.gov.sg, and information on the other Budget benefits can be found at www.singaporebudget.gov.sg ↗ (opens in new tab). If you require more information, the contact details are as follows: