About 2.5 million Singaporeans to receive up to S$700 in December to help with rising costs

SINGAPORE: Eligible Singaporeans will receive up to S$700 in cash payouts next month, as part of measures to help them cope with the GST increase and rising cost of living, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Tuesday (Nov 15).

About 2.9 million adult Singaporeans will receive up to S$200 in cash under the Assurance Package, with about 2.5 million also eligible for the Cost-of-Living (COL) special cash payout of up to S$500. The payouts will be disbursed together, the ministry said.

The one-off COL special payment is part of the S$1.5 billion Support Package announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong in October 2022 to provide cost-of-living relief for Singaporean households.

It will be disbursed to Singaporeans aged 21 years old and above in 2023, with an assessable income of not more than S$100,000 in the Year of Assessment (YA) 2022. They must also not own more than one property.

The payout, ranging from S$300 to S$500, will depend on the recipient's assessable income.

Mr Wong also said in this year's Budget that the Government will add S$640 million to the S$6 billion Assurance Package - announced in 2020 - to cushion the impact of the GST hike, which takes effect from Jan 1.

Last week, the Government said it will boost the package by S$1.4 billion to offset additional GST expenses for most Singaporean households for at least five years, with around 10 years offset for lower-income households.

The package comprises cash, Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers, USave rebates and MediSave top-ups. These amounts will be disbursed over five years starting next month.

"To ensure households receive timely support, we will keep to our commitment to disburse the first tranche of AP benefits from December 2022 to February 2023, as announced in Budget 2022," MOF said on Tuesday.

Singaporeans can check their eligibility for the Assurance Package cash and COL special payment at the Assurance Package official website by logging in using Singpass.

Additional benefits will be disbursed in January and February.

In January, eligible HDB households will receive an additional GST voucher (GSTV) - USave of up to S$95 in rebates to offset their utilities bills. This is on top of the S$95 in rebates given to eligible households under the permanent GSTV scheme.

Every Singaporean household will also get a total of S$300 in Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers.

These vouchers, which include S$200 under the Assurance Package and S$100 from the support package announced in October, can be used at participating heartland merchants and hawkers, as well as supermarkets.

In February, lower-income senior Singaporeans will get a GSTV-cash (seniors’ bonus) payout of up to S$300.

Eligible seniors aged 55 years old and above, as well children aged 20 years old and below, will also receive S$150 in their Central Provident Fund (CPF) MediSave Account in the same month.

3 MODES OF PAYMENTS

Citizens are also encouraged to link their NRIC number to PayNow by Nov 20 to receive their Assurance Package cash and COL special payment as early as from Dec 5. 

The payments will be disbursed on Dec 12 for those who opt to have it credited to their bank accounts.

GovCash has also replaced cheques as the mode of payment for citizens who have not provided their bank account details or linked their NRIC number to PayNow.

They will need to enter their NRIC number and payment reference number - which will be sent out from Dec 14 - at OCBC ATMs islandwide. An OCBC bank account is not required for withdrawals.

More information on the Assurance Package cash and COL special payment are available online. Members of the public may also call the hotline at 1800-222-888.