950,000 HDB households to receive GST voucher rebates in October

SINGAPORE: About 950,000 Singaporean households living in Housing Board (HDB) flats will receive their quarterly Goods and Services Tax Voucher U-Save rebates in October, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Friday (Oct 1).

These households would have also received a U-Save special payment amounting to an additional 50 per cent of their regular U-Save rebates this financial year, credited in April and July.

In total, S$460 million in rebates will be disbursed this financial year via the regular U-Save and the U-Save special payment, which will help families with their household expenses, MOF said.

The U-Save special payment is part of the S$900 million Household Support Package to provide additional support to families during this period of uncertainty. It was announced during Budget 2021 in February. Lower- to middle-income families will get more support.

The regular U-Save rebates to be received by households will be S$100 for one- and two-room flats, S$90 for three-room flats, S$80 for four-room flats, S$70 for five-room flats and S$60 for executive apartments and multi-generation flats.

Typically, those living in one- and two-room HDB flats receive U-Save rebates amounting to an average of about three to four months of their utility bills.

Together with the U-Save special payment, these households will receive rebates equivalent to about four-and-a-half months to six months of their utility bills this year, said MOF.

Households living in three- and four-room flats receive U-Save rebates amounting to an average of about one to two months of their utility bills. This year, they will receive support equivalent to about one-and-a-half to three months of their utility bills.

Households whose members own more than one property are not eligible for the U-Save rebate.

Those eligible will receive their regular GST Voucher U-Save rebates over four quarters - April, July, October 2021 and January 2022.

The regular U-Save rebates in April, July and October include an additional S$5 per quarter from January 2019 to December 2021. This was announced in the 2018 Budget to mitigate the introduction of carbon tax, said MOF.

From January 2022, the regular U-Save rebate received by households will no longer include the additional S$5.

The GST Voucher scheme was introduced by the Government in 2012 to help lower- and middle-income Singaporeans to offset some of their GST expenses.

For more information, visit www.gstvoucher.gov.sg.