During the Budget 2020 speech in February, Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced enhancements to the Wage Credit Scheme, which co-funds wage increases for Singaporean employees.
S$1.1 billion was allocated towards providing more support for employers to give out wage increases.
The monthly wage ceiling was raised from S$4,000 to S$5,000, so that more Singaporean employees will qualify.
Additionally, government co-fund levels were also increased by five percentage points, to 20 per cent for wage increases given in 2019 and 15 per cent for wage increases given in 2020.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced yesterday that companies will receive over S$600 million in Wage Credit payouts by 31 March.
More than 90,000 employers will benefit from this, with about 70 per cent of them being SMEs.
This round of payouts will cover 15 per cent of qualifying wage increases given in 2019, 2018 and 2017 to more than 700,000 Singaporean employees earning up to S$4,000 a month.
Employers eligible for the Budget 2020 enhancements will then receive a supplementary payout in the second half of the year.
Employers do not need to apply. Eligible companies will receive a letter from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) by 31 March.
Conditions to qualify for the Wage Credit Scheme are as follows:
More details on eligibility can also be found on the IRAS website here.
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