More than 1.5 million Singaporeans to receive GST vouchers in 2017

According to the Ministry of Finance, about 1.37 million Singaporeans will receive up to $500 in GSTV– Cash in 2017.

Sigapore dollar
Singapore dollar notes Reuters

A total of 1.57 million eligible Singapore citizens will be receiving notifications on their 2017 GST Vouchers (GSTV) and Medisave top-ups for this year.

According to the Ministry of Finance, about 1.37 million Singaporeans will receive up to $500 in GSTV– Cash in 2017, comprising a payment of up to $300 in August and a one-off Special Payment in November this year. These two will cost around $680 million.

Meanwhile, around 450,000 Singaporeans aged 65 years and above will be getting the GSTV – Medisave of up to $450 in August. This will cost about $130m.

Additionally, Singaporeans born on or before December 31, 1959, who have not received Pioneer Generation (PG) benefits will receive a top-up of up to $200 this year and next year. The top-p for this year will benefit around 520,000 citizens and will cost about $95 million. It will be credited into eligible citizens' Medisave accounts in August.

A non-Pioneer aged 65 this year who lives in an HDB flat and does not own a second property can receive $450 of Medisave top-ups.

On the other hand, a Pioneer aged 70 with the same condition will receive the same amount of Medisave top-ups. A Pioneer aged 85, on the other hand, will receive $1,250 of top-ups.

The GSTV – U-Save is given every three months to help offset utility bills of low earning Singaporeans. Following the announcement at the Budget 2017, there will be a permanent increase of between $40 to $120 to the annual U-Save rebate from July 2017. With this increase, the GSTV – U-Save will cost about $265 million, and benefit about 880,000 eligible Singaporean HDB households.

Citizens eligible for the grants will be able to view their benefits by logging in with SingPass at the GST website.

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