Budget 2023: About 950,000 Singaporean households to get first tranche of GST Vouchers in April

SINGAPORE – About 950,000 Singaporean households living in Housing Board flats will receive their quarterly Goods and Services Tax (GST) Voucher U-Save and service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rebates in April, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Friday.

The total in U-Save vouchers each eligible household will receive in financial year 2023 starting in April ranges from $440 to $760, depending on the flat type. This amount is the same as that in FY2022, which is double the households’ regular U-Save vouchers.

The rebate for S&CC, which are fees for estate maintenance, ranges from 1.5 months to 3.5 months.

These payouts are part of the enhanced permanent GST Voucher scheme and Household Support Package announced at Budget 2023 to help Singaporeans tide over higher inflation and to cushion the impact of the GST rate increase.

The GST Voucher payments comprise cash and MediSave, U-Save for utilities and S&CC rebate.

The payments are meant to help lower- and middle-income Singaporeans.

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This financial year’s S&CC and U-Save payouts amount to eight to 10 months’ worth of utilities bills for the average household living in a one- or two-room HDB flat, and about four to six months’ worth of utilities bills for the average household living in a three- or four-room flat, MOF said.

They will be credited directly into households’ S&CC accounts managed by their respective town councils.

These payouts will be given in four tranches – in April, July and October this year, and in January 2024, said MOF.

The first payout in April will consist of $55 to $95 in U-Save vouchers, and 0.5 or one month in S&CC rebate.

Separately, national grid operator SP Group announced on Friday that the electricity tariff for the April-June period will fall by an average of 5.4 per cent from that in the first three months of the year.

Similarly, piped gas producer and retailer City Energy said the gas tariff will dip by 0.16 per cent from that in the previous quarter.

The Government has been giving out GST vouchers since 2012.

Since the 2022 financial year, the S&CC rebate has become a component of the scheme.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.