Starting today, about 1.6 million Singaporeans will receive letters informing them of their 2015 Goods and Services Tax (GST) Voucher benefits.
The letters will also inform them of other Budget benefits such as Medisave top-ups and service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebates.
The GST Voucher scheme is given in three parts - the cash component, Medisave and Utilities-Save (U-Save). It aims to help lower- and middle-income households with their expenses.
It was announced in this year's Budget that lower-income Singaporeans will get a permanent increase of $50 in the cash component, which is given out yearly. About 1.3 million people will get this on Aug 1. They will get a total of up to $300 in this cash component this year.
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WHAT YOU MAY GET
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The Finance Ministry gave several different scenarios of the additional GST Voucher benefits that Singaporeans can receive.
Those in the examples below live in Housing Board flats and do not own a second property.
RETIREE PIONEER, AGED 76:
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$900 cash
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$950 in Medisave top-ups
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$180-$260 of utilities rebates for their household
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One to three months of Service & Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates
LOWER-INCOME COUPLE IN THEIR EARLY 60s:
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$1,200 cash (in total)
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$400 in Medisave top-ups
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$180-$260 of utilities rebates for their household
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One to three months of S&CC rebates
WORKING COUPLE IN THEIR 40S, EACH HAVING A MONTHLY SALARY OF $2,000:
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$600 cash (in total)
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$180-$260 of utilities rebates for their household
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One to three months of S&CC rebates
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Under the GST Voucher scheme, eligible Singaporeans aged 55 and above can also receive the one-off Seniors' Bonus of $150 to $600 in cash. This will benefit more than 660,000 older folk. Those receiving $600 from the Seniors' Bonus will get half the payouts in August and half in November; the rest will receive all the payouts in August.
About 400,000 Singaporeans aged 65 and above will also receive GST Voucher - Medisave top-ups of up to $450 on Aug 1.
On top of this, Singaporean seniors aged 56 and above this year can get additional Medisave top-ups. Members of the pioneer generation can receive additional top-ups of $200 to $800 annually. The rest will receive top-ups of $100 or $200 annually from 2014 to 2018, as announced in last year's Budget.
More than 800,000 households will also receive up to $65 in utilities rebates this month, under the GST Voucher - U-Save scheme.
About 800,000 households will also receive the S&CC rebate, which will offset half a month to one month of charges, depending on their Housing Board flat type.
• Information on the GST Voucher scheme can be found at www.gstvoucher.gov.sg. Details on the other Budget benefits are at www.singaporebudget.gov.sg
