FairPrice to absorb GST hike for 6 months for 500 items

SINGAPORE — Supermarket chain FairPrice will absorb the upcoming one percentage point increase in GST for some daily essentials for the first half of 2024, in what the company said was an effort to cushion the tax hike's impact on consumers.

The scheme will offset the tax hike on 500 essential items, including rice, fresh fruit and vegetables, and toilet paper.

FairPrice Group (FPG) announced the scheme on Nov 27, saying it was part of a move to "assist Singaporeans during these times of stubborn inflation resulting in an unprecedented rise in the cost of living".

On Jan 1, 2024, the goods and services tax rate will go up from eight per cent to nine per cent, the second of a two-stage rate hike which started on Jan 1, 2023.

The items covered under the scheme are products that the supermarket's customers purchase frequently, said FPG.

They comprise national brands and house brand items and include fresh produce, staples, dairy, meat, paper products, detergents and household cleaners.

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This initiative will apply across all types of FairPrice supermarkets and stores, including FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Shop stores, FairPrice Finest outlets, FairPrice Xtra hypermarkets and FairPrice Online.

FPG, which consists of FairPrice, Kopitiam, NTUC Foodfare and NTUC Link, said it would also extend its discount schemes for members of the Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation and Community Health Assist Scheme Blue cardholders to Dec 31, 2024.

To benefit from these discount schemes, eligible customers will need to present their relevant membership cards to the cashier when checking out their purchases.

At self-checkout counters, customers must select the relevant card discount option. These discounts are valid for up to $200 per transaction per day.

FPG's chief executive Vipul Chawla said the company was committed to "alleviate the rising cost of daily essentials, especially for the more vulnerable among us".

The group said in its statement that it has given out more than $780 million in the form of discounts, rebates and donations since 2019.

It pointed out that this sum amounted to more than $200 million in 2022, an amount that it expects to equal in 2023.

FPG had provided discounts when the three per cent GST was introduced in 1994, and when it was increased from five per cent to seven per cent in 2007. It also did so for six months on certain essential items when the GST increased from seven per cent to eight per cent in 2023.

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