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Employers to receive more than S$145 million in final Jobs Support Scheme payouts from Mar 31

02:24 Min
More than S$145 million in the final tranche of Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) payouts will be disbursed to employers from Mar 31. Lisha Rodney reports.

SINGAPORE: More than S$145 million in the final tranche of Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) payouts will be disbursed to employers from Mar 31. 

The payouts will be given to more than 19,500 employers - in sectors affected by the safe management measures that were put in place in the second half of 2021 - to support the wages of more than 289,500 local employees. 

"With this payout, more than S$28.1 billion of JSS support would have been disbursed since the introduction of the scheme at the Unity Budget in February 2020," said the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) in a press release on Tuesday (Mar 29). 

The JSS has provided wage support for employers and helped them retain local employees during the pandemic. Authorities estimated that the scheme saved 165,000 local jobs from March to December 2020. 

The March payout will cover wages from November to December 2021. Employers who have made mandatory Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions for their local employees for these months by the stipulated deadline will qualify to receive the payout. 

Eligible employers will be notified by post of their payout amount later this month, or they can also log in to myTax Portal to view the electronic copy of their letter.

For employers who have registered for PayNow Corporate as at Mar 27, or have existing GIRO arrangements with IRAS can expect to receive the payouts from Thursday. Other employers will receive their cheques from Apr 22. 

ABOUT S$5 MILLION IN PAYOUTS WITHHELD

"It is vital that employers contribute the right amount of CPF for their employees, based on actual wages paid. Employers’ CPF contributions are used to determine the amount of JSS payout," said the authorities. 

To ensure that the JSS payouts were fairly and correctly distributed, about S$5 million in payouts were withheld from 292 employers, pending their review and submission of supporting documents to IRAS to "substantiate their eligibility". 

"Employers will receive their payouts once IRAS has verified the authenticity and accuracy of the information submitted.

"Their payouts would be adjusted or denied if issues are found during the review," they said. 

Penalties for any attempt to abuse the scheme are severe. Other than having their payouts denied, offenders could be charged with cheating under the Penal Code, where they may be jailed for up to 10 years and a fine. 

Businesses or individuals who wish to report any malpractices or potential abuses of the scheme may do so online or via email to jssreport [at] iras.gov.sg.

ENHANCED JSS FOR FOOD SERVICES SECTOR

To qualify for the enhanced JSS, employers have to be in the stipulated sectors, said the authorities. 

Last July, the Government provided a S$1.1 billion support package to help workers and businesses affected by Singapore’s return to Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) restrictions.

The package included an enhanced JSS for sectors that were required to "“suspend many, if not all, of their activities” during the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) period from Jul 22, 2021 to Aug 18, 2021.

“These include food and beverage businesses, gyms, fitness studios, performing arts organisations and arts education centres,” MOF had said.

In particular, for the food services sector, the company must hold a valid food licence from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and be registered under the Singapore Standard Industrial Classification (SSIC) codes of 56 or 68104. 

This means that the companies are registered as operators of food services, including food courts, coffee shops and canteens. 

EnterpriseSG and MOF had earlier extended the enhanced JSS to several entities with valid SFA licences, but without any SSIC codes, they said. 

"This was on the assumption, based on previous experience, that these entities were stallholders offering food services, and therefore should still qualify for the JSS, even without the relevant SSIC codes." 

At that time, the authorities had proceeded with the payments to ensure "swift" disbursement of funds to all affected entities. 

However, they later checked in January and found that the assumption was "incorrect" for 38 such entities, which included unions, clubs, associations and religious organisations. 

"These entities have a food licence (e.g. to run a small canteen) but they are clearly not in the food services business. There is therefore erroneous JSS payments to these 38 entities," said the authorities. 

All 38 entities have been notified and the authorities added they have "committed" to return the overpayment of S$32.2 million. 

"There may also be instances where companies do not have the relevant SSIC codes, and did not receive any JSS payments, but are, in fact, deriving majority of their income from food services," they said. 

Some of these companies could be businesses that started out in a different industry, and later switched to food services, but have not updated their SSIC codes with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority. 

"In such cases, companies can appeal and we have been looking at such appeals on a case by case basis." 

Businesses with additional queries on the issue may email them to jss_fs [at] enterprisesg.gov.sg

Source: CNA/lk(ac)

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