SINGAPORE — About 950,000 Singaporean households living in Housing Board flats will each receive up to $190 in goods and services tax voucher (GSTV) – U-Save rebates in January to offset the GST increase of 1 percentage point and other living expenses.
The rebates are part of the Government’s move to mitigate the rising cost of living for Singaporeans.
They are disbursed quarterly – in April, July, October and January – each financial year, with eligible households receiving double their regular U-Save rebates this financial year, which ends in March 2023.
Households in one- and two-room flats will get the largest rebate of $190, while those in three-room flats will get $170, said the Ministry of Finance on Friday.
Eligible Singaporeans living in four-room flats will receive $150, while those in five-room flats will receive $130. People living in executive or multi-generational flats will get $110.
This amounts to eight to 10 months’ worth of utility bills for an average household in a one- or two-room flat, or four to six months’ worth of utility bills for an average household in three- or four-room flats.
The U-Save rebates will be credited directly into utility accounts managed by SP Services.
Households in one- to five-room flats will also get 0.5 month in GSTV rebates for service and conservancy charges (S&CC). These will be credited in January to S&CC accounts managed by the respective town councils.
The U-Save and S&CC rebates are part of the Government’s permanent GSTV scheme and the Assurance Package.
The package, announced in 2020, was given a $1.4 billion boost in November to help Singaporeans cope with the upcoming GST hike in January from 7 per cent to 8 per cent and is now worth $8 billion in total.
There will be other rebates and benefits in the first two months of 2023, added the Finance Ministry.
On Jan 3, every Singaporean household will receive $300 worth of Community Development Council vouchers, comprising $200 under the Assurance Package and another $100 from the $1.5 billion Household Support Package announced in October 2022, the ministry said.
These can be used at participating heartland merchants and hawkers, and also supermarkets.
In February 2023, lower-income Singaporeans aged 55 years and above will receive up to $300 in cash and $150 in their Central Provident Fund MediSave accounts. Singaporeans aged 20 years and below will also receive $150 in their MediSave accounts.
