SINGAPORE - About 950,000 households living in Housing Board flats will be receiving their regular goods and services tax (GST) rebates this month, and additional rebates to support them during this period of uncertainty.
The additional rebates will amount to 50 per cent of their regular GST rebates over this financial year, as part of the Household Support Package announced at Singapore's 2021 Budget.
These rebates will be disbursed through the GST Voucher (GSTV) U-Save and U-Save Special Payment initiatives, and will be credited in offsets to household utility bills.
There will be four rounds of GSTV – U-Save rebates this financial year - in April, July, October and January 2022.
The U-Save Special Payment will be given this month and again in July.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Kiat said in a Facebook post on Thursday (April 1): "At #SGBudget2021, I announced that households will receive 50 per cent more rebate this year to provide additional support for households during this period of economic uncertainty."
"The additional amounts will be paid out in April and July. So effectively, households will receive double their regular amount in these two quarters. ''
The total amount distributed under these initiatives this financial year will tally to about $460 million.
The amount each household will be credited is tagged to the kind of HDB housing they reside in.
Households living in one and two-room HDB flats typically receive rebates which amount to an average of about three to four months of their utility bills, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
With the addition of the U-Save Special Payment, the rebates will increase to amounts equivalent to about 4½ to six months of their utility bills.
For those in three and four-room flats, the additional support will be equivalent to about 1½ to three months of their utility bills.
The rebates began as a permanent scheme in 2012. Last financial year, the Government disbursed $630 million through the GSTV – U-save schemes, including special payments. These rebates also featured additional transfers to support households through the Covid-19 pandemic's economic fall-out.
The last payment from that round of rebates was in January this year.
