950,000 HDB households to get GSTV - U-Save rebates in April
They'll receive $440 to $760 in total rebates this financial year to offset GST, utility bills
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About 950,000 households living in Housing Board flats will receive their quarterly Goods and Services Tax (GST) Voucher - U-Save rebates this month, the first payout of the fiscal year.
The payments are meant to help lower-and middle-income Singaporeans offset their GST and utility bills, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday.
The total rebates each eligible household will receive in Financial Year (FY) 2022 range from $440 to $760, depending on the flat type.
The rebates will be given in four tranches - in April, July and October this year, and January next year.
The Government has been giving out GST Vouchers in three components - cash, MediSave and U-Save for utilities - since 2012.
From FY2022, the service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebate will be a component of the scheme.
For this financial year, households will receive double the U-Save payments, which come in the form of rebates in utility bills.
For those residing in one-and two-room flats, the rebate amounts to about eight to 10 months of utility bills.
For those living in three-and four-room flats, the rebate works out to about four to six months of utility bills, said MOF.
Totalling $720 million, the payouts were announced at Budget 2022 in February and are part of the enhanced permanent GST Voucher scheme and the Household Support Package.
It was also made known that GST will be raised by 1 percentage point a year over the next two years, from 7 per cent to 9 per cent.
Households in one-or two-room flats will receive two U-Save payments of $95 each this month, while those in three-room flats will get two payments of $85 each.
Those in four-room flats will get $75 for each payment, and those in five-room flats will get $65.
Those in executive or multi-generational units will receive two $55 payments.
MOF said that those who own more than one property remain ineligible under the GST Voucher - U-Save scheme.
In FY2021, the Government disbursed $460 million through the scheme, including special payments to support households during the pandemic.
Madam Jolie Lee, 59, who lives in a five-room Sengkang flat and is in between jobs, said: "As my children have all moved out, my utility bill is quite low, at about $15 a month before the rebates.
"The S&CC rebates will be more useful to me as I can save on some of the monthly payments."
Freelance photographer Daniel Hakim, 34, said: "Over the course of the pandemic, my income has been affected, so having the rebates on our utilities takes a load off my shoulders."
