Singapore Budget 2020 – Individuals and Households

NAVIGATION

Individual Income Tax Rate
Extension Of Withholding Tax Exemption For Non-Resident Mediators
Extension Of Withholding Tax Exemption For Non-Resident Arbitrators
Extension Of Concessionary Withholding Tax Rate For Non-Resident Public Entertainers (NRPEs)
Lapse Of Angel Investors Tax Deduction (AITD) Scheme
Rental Waiver For Hawkers
Service And Conservancy Charges (S&CC) Rebate
Additional Gst Voucher – U-Save
Care And Support Package For Households
10. SkillsFuture Credit (SFC) Top-Up
SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC)
SkillsFuture Mid-Career Support Package
Enhancement To Silver Support Scheme
Workfare Special Payment
Passion Card Top-Up
Grocery Vouchers

1.INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX RATE

As with past year, there is also no change in personal income tax rate in this 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. EXTENSION OF WITHHOLDING TAX EXEMPTION FOR NON-RESIDENT MEDIATORS

Non-resident professionals are subject to withholding tax at a rate of 15% on gross income from the profession; or they may elect to be taxed at 22% on net income. As a concession, income derived by non-resident mediators from mediation work carried out in Singapore is exempt from tax, subject to conditions. This exemption will be extended till 31 March 2022.

3. EXTENSION OF WITHHOLDING TAX EXEMPTION FOR NON-RESIDENT ARBITRATORS

Non-resident professionals are subject to withholding tax at a rate of 15% on gross income from the profession; or they may elect to be taxed at 22% on net income. As a concession, income derived by non-resident arbitrators from arbitration work carried out in Singapore is exempt from tax, subject to conditions. This exemption will be extended till 31 March 2022.

4. EXTENSION OF CONCESSIONARY WITHHOLDING TAX RATE FOR NON- RESIDENT PUBLIC ENTERTAINERS (NRPEs)

The current concessionary withholding tax rate for NRPEs is 10% of gross income in respect of services performed in Singapore. This concession will be extended to 31 March 2022 and will lapse after 31 March 2022.

5. LAPSE OF ANGEL INVESTORS TAX DEDUCTION (AITD) SCHEME

This scheme was introduced in Budget 2010 to stimulate angel investments into Singapore-based startups. Under the scheme, an approved angel investor is granted a tax deduction of 50% of the cost of his qualifying investments, subject to conditions.

To maintain the resilience and progressivity of the tax system, the AITD scheme will lapse after 31 March 2020.

Further details of the transitional arrangement for existing approved angel investors will be provided by end-March 2020.

6. RENTAL WAIVER FOR HAWKERS

All stallholders at hawker centres and markets managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA) will be given one month’s worth of rental waiver, with a minimum waiver of S$200/-.

Commercial tenants in other government-owned or managed facilities (such as the Housing Board, People’s Association, National Parks Board, JTC, Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore Tourism Board and Sentosa Development Corporation) will be provided with half a month’s worth of rental waiver.

Eligible tenants are those on leases not exceeding three years and who do not pay property tax.

The rental waivers do not apply to any premises or a part of any premises used for residential, industrial or agricultural purposes, or as an office, a business or science park, or a petrol station.

7. SERVICE AND CONSERVANCY CHARGES (S&CC) REBATE

Eligible Singaporean households living in HDB flats will receive rebates to offset between

1.5 and 3.5 months of S&CC over FY 2020, as shown below:-

HDB Flat Type	No. of months of S&CC Rebate in FY 2020
HDB Flat Type	April 2020	July 2020	October 2020	January 2021	Total for FY2020
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

Note:

Eligible households will receive their S&CC Rebate over four quarters in April 2020, July 2020, October 2020 and January 2021.
Households with a member owning or having any interest in a private property, or have rented out the entire flat, are not eligible for the S&CC Rebate

8. ADDITIONAL GST VOUCHER – U-SAVE

All eligible HDB households will receive double their regular GST Voucher (GSTV) – U- Save in Financial Year (FY) 2020 (April 2020 to March 2021) through a one-off GSTV – U-Save Special Payment. Eligible households with five or more members will receive an additional GSTV – U-Save rebate in FY 2020, and will thus receive a total of 2.5 times their regular GSTV – U-Save in FY 2020.

GST Voucher – U-Save for FY 2020
HDB Flat Type	Regular GSTV –U-Save	GSTV–U-Save Special Payment	Additional GSTV–U-Save rebate	Total GSTV –U-Save for FY 2020
HDB Flat Type	For all eligible households		For 5 or more members in households	Total GSTV –U-Save for FY 2020
1 – and 2 – room	S$400/-	+S$400/-	+S$200/-	S$800/- or S$1,000/-
3 – room	S$360/-	+S$360/-	+S$180/-	S$720/- or S$900/-
4 – room	S$320/-	+S$320/-	+S$160/-	S$640/- or S$800/-
5 – room	S$280/-	+S$280/-	+S$140/-	S$560/- or S$700/-
Executive / Multi-generation	S$240/-	+S$240/-	+S$120/-	S$480/- or S$600/-

Note:

Households whose members own more than one property are not eligible for GSTV – U-Save.
Eligible households will receive their regular GSTV – U-Save over four quarters in April 2020, July 2020, October 2020 and January
On top of the regular GSTV – U-Save, eligible households will receive their GSTV – U-Save Special Payment over two quarters in April 2020 and July 2020, and eligible larger households with five or more members will receive their additional GSTV – U-Save rebate over two quarters in October 2020 and January 2021.
Household members refer to individuals living at the same residence (as reflected on their NRICs), and who are related by blood, marriage, or legal adoption (e.g. spouse, parents, children, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, and in-laws). Domestic helpers, unrelated tenants, god-parents, and friends are not considered household members.

9. CARE AND SUPPORT PACKAGE FOR HOUSEHOLDS

All Singaporeans aged 21 years and above in year 2020 will receive a one-off cash payout based on their income earned in 2018 and property ownership. Parents, with one or more Singaporean children aged 20 years and below in year 2020, will each receive an additional S$100/- in cash.

Care and Support
AssessableIncomefor YA 2019	S$0/-toS$28,000/-	S$28,001/-toS$100,000/-	MorethanS$100,000/-,or owns more than oneproperty
Cash	S$300/-	S$200/-	S$100/-
Additionalcashforparentswith child /childrenbelow21yearsoldinyear2020	S$100/- per parent

10. SKILLSFUTURE CREDIT (SFC) TOP-UP

The Government will provide a one-off SFC top-up of S$500/- to every Singapore Citizen aged 25 years and above as at 31 December 2020. Eligible individuals can start using the additional S$500/- SFC from 1 October 2020 and will be valid for five years to encourage Singaporeans to take timely action to reskill and upskill, and be better equipped to seize new career opportunities. Any unused credit from this SFC top-up will lapse after 31 December 2025.

Further details will be provided by Ministry of Education at the COS.

11. SKILLSFUTURE ENTERPRISE CREDIT (SFEC)

To encourage employers to embark on the transformation of their workforce and enterprise in tandem, a one-off S$10,000/- credit will be given to eligible employers to defray 90% of out-of-pocket expenses for supportable enterprise capability development and workforce transformation programmes.

12. SKILLSFUTURE MID-CAREER SUPPORT PACKAGE

Hiring Incentive
Employers who hire new local workers aged 40 and above through select reskilling programmes will receive 20% salary support for 6 months, capped at S$6,000/- in total from the government.Reskilling programmes eligible for the hiring incentive are the Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs), Place-and-Train (PnT) programmes for rank-and- file workers, and career transition programmes by Continuing Education and Training (CET) centres.
An employer who is already claiming salary support for a mature person hired under Workforce Singapore’s Career Support Programme or P-Max, cannot receive the hiring incentive for the same person hired.
Further details will be provided by Workforce Singapore at Tel. 6883 5885.
Skillsfuture Credit (SFC) top-up for the 40s and 50s
To improve individuals’ access to career transition programmes, the Govenment will provide a one-off SFC top-up of S$500/- to every Singapore Citizen (SC) aged 40 to 60 (inclusive) as at 31 December 2020. This will be over and above the S$500/- SFC top-up for Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above as at 31 December 2025.Eligible individuals can start using the SFC top-up under this package from 1 October 2020, on about 200 career transition programmes offered by the Continuing Education and Training (CET) Centres.
This SFC top-up will be valid for five years to encourage individuals to take timely action to learn, reskill, and seize new career opportunities. All unused credit from this SFC top-up will lapse after 31 December 2025.
More details will be provided by the Ministry of Education at the COS.

13. ENHANCEMENT TO SILVER SUPPORT SCHEME

This enhancement will apply from 1 January 2021.

All Singaporeans aged 65 and above in 2021 will be automatically assessed for eligibility under this scheme and will be notified by the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board. They will receive their first payout in December 2020.

The enhancements are as follows:-

Payouts raised by 20%
Quarterly payouts will increase by 20% for those who meet the current eligibility criteria.
Expanded criterion for lifetime wages
Eligible Singaporeans should have total CPF contributions (Ordinary Account and Special Account) of not more than S$140,000/- by age 55 years old. (The current criterion is S$70,000/-.)Self-employed persons should also have an average annual net trade income of not more than S$27,600/- when they were aged 45 to 54. (The current criterion is S$22,800/-.)
Expanded criterion for household monthly income per person
Singaporeans aged 65 and above who live in a household with a monthly income per person of not more than S$1,800/-, and meet all other eligibility criteria will be eligible for Silver Support. (The current criterion is S$1,100/-).

There will be two tiers of payouts as shown below:-

Silver Support Quarterly Payouts from 1 January 2021
HDB Flat Type ^	Total CPF contributions of not more than S$140,000/- by age 55 years old*
HDB Flat Type ^	Household monthly income per person of S$1,300/-or less	Household monthly income per person of above S$1,300/-but not more than S$1,800/-
1 – and 2 – room	S$900/-	S$450/-
3 – room	S$720/-	S$360/-
4 – room	S$540/-	S$270/-
5 – room #	S$360/-	S$180/-

Note:

* Self-employed persons should also have an average annual net trade income of not more than S$27,600/- when they were aged 45 to 54.
^ Not own, and not have a spouse who owns, a 5-room or larger HDB flat or private property or multiple properties.
# Live in, but do not own, a 5-room HDB flat.

The Silver Support payout will continue to supplement the monthly cash assistance provided by the ComCare Long-Term Assistance (LTA) Scheme. All Singaporeans aged 65 and above who are ComCare LTA beneficiaries will receive a Silver Support payout of S$360/- per quarter. ComCare LTA beneficiaries also receive medical assistance at polyclinics and Government/restructured hospitals, and free or highly subsidised social services such as home help, or at the senior activity centres funded by the Government.

14. WORKFARE SPECIAL PAYMENT

Singaporeans who received Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) payments in Work Year 2019 will be eligible for a Workfare Special Payment (WSP) in year 2020, which includes both employees and self-employed persons. The payment will be given in cash, and will provide additional support for low-wage workers and self-employed persons aged 35 and above in year 2019.

Work fare Special Payment
Age in 2019 (Years)	20% of Total Annual WIS Payment for Work Year 2019
Age in 2019 (Years)	Employees	Self-Employed Persons
35 – 44	S$100/- to S$300/-	S$100/- to S$200/-
45 – 54	S$100/- to S$440/-	S$100/- to S$293/-
55 – 59	S$100/- to S$580/-	S$100/- to S$387/-
60 and above	S$100/- to S$720/-	S$100/- to S$480/-

Note:

Persons with disabilities aged below 35 years in year 2019, who meet the WIS eligibility criteria, will also receive a WSP of between S$100/- and S$300/- based on work done in year

15. PASSION CARD TOP-UP

All Singaporeans aged 50 years and above in year 2020 will receive a S$100/- top-up to their Passion Card in year 2020. Passion card will be given free of charge to these group of Singaporeans if they do not have an existing card.

Low-income Singaporeans aged 21 years and above, who live in 1-room and 2-room HDB flats and do not own more than one property, will receive S$100/- in Grocery Vouchers each year, i.e. in year 2020 and year 2021. Grocery Vouchers can be used at participating supermarkets, such as NTUC FairPrice, Giant and Sheng Siong to help cope with daily expenses.

16. GROCERY VOUCHERS