Singapore Budget 2019 - Individuals and Households

NAVIGATION

Individual Income Tax Rate
Personal Income Tax Rebate
Grandparent Caregiver Relief
Not Ordinarily Resident (NOR) Scheme
CPF Top-Up
Five-year MediSave Top-Up
Edusave Accounts And Post-Secondary Education Accounts Top-Up
Workfare Income Supplement (WIS)
Commemorating Our Bicentennial
Merdeka Generation Package (MGP)
ComCare Long-Term Assistance And Singapore Allowance
CareShield Life
Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS)
Service And Conservancy Charges (S&CC) Rebate

1 – INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX RATE

The current individual progressive income tax rates as shown below remained unchanged since Year of Assessment (YA) 2017. There was no revision unveiled in this year’s budget.

	Chargeable Income (S$)	Tax Rate (%)	Gross Tax Payable (S$)
On the first On the next	20,000/- 10,000/-	0 2	0 200/-
On the first On the next	30,000/- 10,000/-	– 3.5	200/- 350/-
On the first On the next	40,000/- 40,000/-	– 7	550/- 2,800/-
On the first On the next	80,000/- 40,000/-	– 11.5	3,350/- 4.,600/-
On the first On the next	120,000/- 40,000/-	– 15	7,950/- 6,000/-
On the first On the next	160,000/- 40,000/-	– 18	13,950/- 7,200/-
On the first On the next	200,000/- 40,000/-	– 19	21,150/- 7,600/-
On the first On the next	240,000/- 40,000/-	– 19.5	28,750/- 7,800/-
On the first On the next	280,000/- 40,000/-	– 20	36,550/- 8,000/-
On the first In excess of	320,000/- 320,000/-	– 22	44,550/-

2 – PERSONAL INCOME TAX REBATE

As part of the Bicentennial Bonus, a Personal Income Tax Rebate of 50% of tax payable will be granted to all Singapore tax resident individuals for YA 2019 (i.e. for income earned in 2018). The rebate will be capped at S$200/- per taxpayer.

3 – GRANDPARENT CAREGIVER RELIEF

To provide greater support and recognition to working mothers with handicapped and unmarried dependent children, the Government has decided to allow eligible working mothers to claim Grandparent Caregiver Relief in respect of a handicapped and unmarried dependent child (incapacitated by reason of physical or mental infirmity), regardless of the child’s age, if they have met all other qualifying child relief conditions.

This will take effect from YA 2020 (i.e. for income earned in 2019).

4 – NOT ORDINARILY RESIDENT (NOR) SCHEME

The NOR scheme was introduced in Budget 2002 with the objective of attracting talent with regional and global responsibilities to relocate to Singapore. The Ministry of Finance has periodically reviewed its relevance and has decided that this scheme will lapse after YA 2020. The last such NOR status will be granted for YA 2020 and expire in YA 2024.

Individuals who have been accorded the NOR status will continue to be granted NOR tax concessions until their NOR status expires, if they continue to meet the conditions of the concessions.

5 – CPF TOP-UP

The Government will make a one-off top-up to the CPF Special or Retirement Account of lower-income Singaporeans aged 50 to 64 years old in 2019 who have less than S$60,000/- of retirement savings in their CPF accounts.

Notes:-

Eligibility criteria:-
1. Assessable Income for Year of Assessment 2018 not more than $28,000
2. Annual Value of home as at 31 Dec 2018 not more than $21,000
3. Do not own more than one property.
For CPF members aged 50 to 55 in 2019
For CPF members aged 56 to 64 in 2019

Age in 2019¹	Combined CPF Ordinary and Special Account² or Retirement Account³ Balance as at 31 Dec 2018
Age in 2019¹	Up to S$30,000/-	More than S$30,000/- and less than S$60,000/-
50 to 54 years	S$500/-	S$300/-
55 to 64 years	S$1,000/-	S$600/-

6 – FIVE-YEAR MEDISAVE TOP-UP

The Government will provide a MediSave top-up of S$100/- a year from 2019 to 2023 for

Singaporeans who meet all of the following criteria:-

Singapore Citizen as at 31 December of the year preceding the top-up;
Born in or before 1969; and
Neither receive benefits from the Merdeka Generation Package nor Pioneer Generation Package.

7 – EDUSAVE ACCOUNTS AND POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION ACCOUNTS TOP-UP

The Government will provide a one-off top-up to Edusave accounts or Post-Secondary Education Accounts (PSEA) in addition to the annual Edusave contributions. The top-ups are expected to be made by mid-2019, as follows:-

Age in 2019	Account Receiving Top-up	Annual Value of Home as at 31 Dec 2018
		Up to S$13,000/-	More than S$13,000/-
7 to 16 years	Edusave	S$150/-
17 to 20 years	PSEA	S$500/-	S$250/-

8 – WORKFARE INCOME SUPPLEMENT (WIS)

As introduced in past budgets, the WIS scheme provides cash payouts and CPF top-ups for workers whose earnings are in the bottom 20%, with some support for those slightly above. This scheme has helped workers raised their incomes, encouraged employment, and save more for retirement.

The Minister has enhanced this scheme with the following changes:-

Qualifying income cap raised from S$2,000/- per month to S$2,300/- per month.
Higher annual WIS payouts of up to S$4,000/-.

This scheme will take effect for work done from 1 January 2020 and is based on the different age bands as shown below:-

Age Band	Maximum annual WIS payout for employees (S$)	Maximum annual WIS payout for self-employed persons (S$)
35 to 44 years	1,700/-	1,133/-
45 to 54 years	2,500/-	1,667/-
55 to 59 years	3,300/-	2,200/-
60 years and above	4,000/-	2,667/-

Note: Persons with disabilities below age 35 who meet the WIS eligibility criteria will receive up to
S$1,700/- annual WIS payout.

9 – COMMEMORATING OUR BICENTENNIAL

(a) Bicentennial Community Fund

To encourage more Singaporeans to embrace the spirit of giving back and Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) to reach out to more donors, the new Bicentennial Community Fund will provide dollar-for-dollar matching for donations made to IPCs between 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020.

The one-stop platform, Giving.sg, has also been enhanced to better match donors and volunteers with meaningful causes.

This platform provides charities with an easy and secure way to establish an online presence, and receive donations digitally. Donors can also quickly navigate and find a worthy cause that matches their passion and commitment, and start on their giving journey.

Further details will be released by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth at a later date.

(b) Bicentennial Bonus for Lower-income Singaporeans

i) GST Voucher – Cash (Bicentennial Payment)

Assessable Income for YA 2018 up to S$28,000/-	Annual Value of Home as at 31 Dec 2018
Assessable Income for YA 2018 up to S$28,000/-	Up to S$13,000/-	S$13,001/- to S$21,000/-
Aged 21 and above in 2019	S$300/-	S$150/-

Note: The other eligibility criteria for GST Voucher – Cash also apply to GST Voucher –
Cash (Bicentennial Payment).

ii) Workfare Bicentennial Bonus

Age in 2018	10% of the Total Annual WIS payment for Work year 2018
Age in 2018	Employee (S$)	Self-Employed Persons (S$)
35 to 44 years	Between 100/- and 150/-	100/-
45 to 54 years	Between 100/- and 220/-	Between 100/- and 147/-
55 to 59 years	Between 100/- and 290/-	Between 100/- and 194/-
60 years and above	Between 100/- and 360/-	Between 100/- and 240/-

Notes:-
1. The Workfare Bicentennial Bonus for self-employed persons is at two-thirds of the
amount for employees.
2. Persons with disabilities below age 35 in 2018 and meet the WIS eligibility criteria will
also receive between S$100/- and S$150/- based on work done in 2018.

10 – MERDEKA GENERATION PACKAGE (MGP)

The MGP is a gesture of our nation’s gratitude for our senior Singaporeans’ contributions and a way to show care for them in their silver years.

The MGP comprises of five key benefits:-

All Merdeka Generation (MG) seniors will receive a one-time S$100/- top-up to their PAssion Silver cards which can be used for healthy lifestyle activities like sports.
A MediSave top-up of S$200/- per year from year 2019 until year 2023.
MG seniors will receive additional subsidies of 25% off their subsidized bills for outpatient care, for life.
MG seniors will have additional MediShield Life premium subsidies, for life.

Additional MG Premium Subsidies for MediShield Life

An additional participation incentive of S$1,500/- for MG seniors who join CareShield Life, when it becomes available for existing cohorts in 2021. This incentive is in addition to the S$2,500/- previously announced. Hence, the total participation incentives will be S$4,000/- each.

The MGP is available to Singaporeans who are:-

Born from 1 January 1950 to 31 December 1959 and who obtained citizenship by 1996.
Born in 1949 or earlier, but missed out on the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP), if they obtained citizenship by 1996.
Eligible seniors regardless of their income.
Notified by April 2019, and received their Merdeka Generation cards starting from June 2019.

Further details and the implementation timeline for the MGP benefits will be released by Minister for Health at the COS.

Age Next Birthday (at policy renewal)	Additional Subsidy for the Merdeka Generation	Total Subsidy
60 to 75 years	5% of annual premiums (S$31.50 to S$48.75)	S$31.50 to S$390/-
76 year and above	10% of annual premiums (S$113/- to S$153/-)	S$113/- to S$918/-

11 – COMCARE LONG-TERM ASSISTANCE AND SINGAPORE ALLOWANCE

The ComCare Long-Term Assistance scheme provides basic monthly cash assistance to those who are permanently unable to work and have little family support, to support their living expenses. The cash assistance rates will be raised.

Further details will be released by Minster for Social and Family Development at the COS.

To help government pensioners who draw lower pensions, the Singapore Allowance and monthly pension ceiling will be increased by S$20/- per month each, to S$320/- and S$1,250/- respectively.

12 – CARESHIELD LIFE

To enhance the current ElderShield scheme, the new CareShield Life will be introduced from year 2020 and will provide lifetime coverage, with higher monthly payouts of at least S$600/- a month for those who become severely disabled. This offsets the costs of longterm care for individuals and their families.

The Government will provide subsidies and premium support and offer participation incentives for existing cohorts, born in year 1979 or earlier who join CareShield Life, so that their future are better protected and premiums are affordable. In addition, the Govenment will also launch ElderFund in year 2020, to help severely disabled, lower income Singaporeans who need additional financial support for long-term care. This includes those who might not be able to join CareShield Life, or have low MediSave
balances.

13 – COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSIST SCHEME (CHAS)

CHAS was introduced in year 2012 to help lower-to middle-income families by making primary care and basic dental care at clinics near their homes more affordable.

The Minister has enhanced CHAS as follows:-

Extend CHAS to cover all Singaporeans for chronic conditions, regardless of income.
Extend subsidies for common illnesses to lower- to middle-income Singaporeans who are CHAS Orange cardholders currently receive CHAS subsidies for chronic conditions.
Increase the subsidies for complex chronic conditions.

Further details will be released by Minister for Health at the COS.

14 – SERVICE AND CONSERVANCY CHARGES (S&CC) REBATE

The Minister has decided to extend the S&CC rebate for another year for eligible Singaporean households living in HDB flats as follows:-

Note: Households with a member owning or having any interest in a private property, or have rented out the whole flat, are not eligible for S&CC rebates.

HDB Flat Type	FY2019 S&CC Rebate (no. of months)
HDB Flat Type	April 2019	July 2019	October 2019	January 2020	Total for FY2019
1- and 2-room	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.5	3.5
3- and 4-room	1.0	0.5	0.5	0.5	2.5
5- room	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	2.0
Executive/ Multi-generation	0.5	0.5	0.5	–	1.5