Singapore To Pay Last GST-Offset Subsidy

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

02 January 2012

Singapore’s Ministry of Finance has announced that about 800,000 Housing and Development Board (HDB) households can expect to receive SGD40m (USD30.8m) in Utilities-Save (U-Save) goods and services tax (GST) rebates in January 2012.

Each Singaporean household may receive up to SGD90 in U-Save rebate in January 2012, depending on HDB flat type. The highest payment is reserved for 1-room and 2-room households. However, HDB flats which are owned by or fully sublet to non-citizens are not eligible for a rebate.

The U-Save rebates on utility bills were introduced in 2007 as part of the government’s SGD4bn 5-year offset package to help Singaporeans, especially those on low and middle-income households, with the increase in GST from 5% to 7%.

The U-Save rebates in January are the final tranche of rebates and, over the past 5 years, HDB households have received more than SGD800m worth of utilities rebates, inclusive of the additional rebates given under the ‘Grow & Share’ package this year. On average, taking into account the U-Save rebates, families living in 4-room and smaller flats have not seen any increase in annual payments for utilities bills since 2007.

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