The Singapore government announced that Singaporeans will receive up to S$800 worth of cash vouchers this December. This is the latest round of the Assurance Package payouts to offset the increasing costs of living.

Here's everything you need to know, simplified for you.

Vouchers to be paid out in December 2023

All Singaporeans aged 21 years old and above in 2024 will receive a cash voucher of S$200 to S$800 during the December 2023 round of Assurance Package payouts.

About 2.9 million Singaporeans will benefit from this round of payouts. This is part of the S$6.6 billion Assurance Package (AP) and the permanent GST Voucher (GSTV) scheme, that aims to help Singaporeans lessen the financial loan of higher inflation and GST increases.

December 2023 Cash payout details

Eligible Singaporeans are encouraged to link their NRICs to PayNow by Nov 19 2023 in order to receive their cash voucher as early as Dec 5 2023.

Those who do not have PayNow-NRIC linked bank accounts can update their banking information with any one of the three local banks (DBS, UOB or OCBC) at the Assurance Package official website by Nov 27 2023. Payments via this distribution method will be dispersed from Dec 13 2023 onwards.

Those who opt to withdraw their cash vouchers through GovCash can do so at any OCBC ATM island wide starting Dec 22 2022. An OCBC account is not required to withdraw the payments. All you will need is the payment reference number that will be sent out late December, as well as your NRIC number.

Vouchers that were paid out in August 2023

In August 2023, 1.5 million Singaporeans aged 21 years old and above will receive up to a total of S$700 in GST Vouchers in the form of cash. This is an increase of S$300 compared to the GST Vouchers given out last year. The cash payout will automatically be paid out via your PayNow-NRIC-linked bank account.

On Top of that, 624,000 eligible Singaporean adults aged 65 and above in 2023 will also receive up to S$450 in MediSave Top Ups, which will automatically be credited to their CPF MediSave Accounts.

Singaporeans who have not yet signed up for the GST Voucher (GSTV) scheme can do so at the GSTV official website. Those who signed up for the GSTV scheme by July 10 2023 will receive their payment in August 2023 while those who sign up between July 11 2023 and August 2023 will only receive their payment in September 2023.

Anyone who signed up after September 2023 will receive their payment by the end of the following month. The deadline to sign up for the GSTV scheme is April 30 2024.

Eligibility and amount receivable for the GST cash voucher

Eligibility and amount receivable for the GST Medisave voucher

Vouchers that were paid out in January 2023

Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers

Another round of CDC vouchers will be paid out to Singaporean households on Jan 3 2023. CDC vouchers totalling S$300, S$200 under the Assurance Package and an additional S$100 under the Cost-of-Living special payment, will be issued to each household.

S$150 of the CDC vouchers can be used for grocery shopping at the following supermarkets - HAO Mart, NTUC FairPrice, Prime Supermarket, Sheng Siong and U Stars Supermarket. The remaining S$150 can be used at any of the close to 20,300 participating heartland shops and hawker centres.

How do I receive the vouchers?

Visit go.gov.sg/cdcv and tap on CDC Vouchers 2023. From there, log in to your Singpass account and you will receive your CDC voucher link via SMS. Only one member of your household needs to log in and the SMS link can then be forwarded to other members of the household to use as well.

Additional GST Voucher - U-Save

Eligible HDB households also will receive an additional GST voucher (GSTV) - U-Save rebate under the Assurance Package. This additional voucher will be on top of and credited together with, the existing GSTV - U-Save.

Eligible HDB Households whose members do not own more than one property will receive:

No action is required if you are eligible for the GSTV - U-Save rebates. The rebate will automatically be credited into your utilities accounts managed by SP Services.

GSTV - service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebate

The government has also announced a GSTV - S&CC Rebate that will be included under the permanent GST Voucher scheme.

Eligible Singaporean households living in HDB flats with no private property ownership will be eligible for the following rebate:

No action is required if you are eligible for the GSTV - S&CC rebate. The rebate will automatically be credited into your S&CC accounts managed by your respective Town Council.

Vouchers that were paid out In December 2022

Assurance package vouchers

In Budget 2020, the Singapore government announced a S$6 billion Assurance Package (AP) to cushion the effects of the upcoming increase in GST.

They have since enhanced the package with an additional S$640 million worth of vouchers, which would be distributed to about 2.8 million adult Singaporeans. The payouts will be distributed over five years, with the first payment being dispersed in December 2022.

Cost of living special payment

In October 2022, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong announced a S$1.5 billion support package to provide aid to Singaporeans for rising inflation. This package is specifically targeted at helping lower- to middle-income groups. About 2.5 million Singaporeans will benefit from the Cost-of-Living (COL) Vouchers and it will be paided out together with the AP Vouchers.

December 2022 cash payout details

If you would like to find out exactly how much you are eligible for, you may visit the govpayouts website for more information.

ALSO READ: CDC and GST Vouchers August 2023: Everything you need to know plus the amount you'll get

This article was first published in ValueChampion.