The Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme, or SIRS, has been put in place to provide direct cash assistance.
This is the first time that direct cash is being provided to support self-employed persons on such a large scale, Mr Heng says.
Since the second stimulus package was announced on March 26, the Minister for Manpower, NTUC Secretary-General and Mr Heng, as well as government agencies, have received feedback from various self-employed persons whose livelihoods have been affected.
After considering the appeals, two enhancements will be made.
- SIRS will be extended to automatically include self-employed persons who also earn a small income from employment work.
- Current Annual Value threshold to be raised from up to $13,000 to up to $21,000, to include those who live in some condominiums and other private properties.
The other criteria remain unchanged. With these enhancements, a total of about 100,000 self-employed persons will automatically be eligible for the scheme, and will receive three payments of $3,000, starting from next month.
In the spirit of tripartism, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng has also agreed to step up and help administer the application and appeals for SIRS, and support self-employed persons in need.
Mr Heng says those who do not need this and do not qualify, should not come forward to appeal for and abuse the support – otherwise, public confidence will be undermined and unnecessary resources taken up.
But done right, together, many self-employed persons who are hard hit can be helped. MOM will work closely with NTUC to start processing appeals for SIRS as soon as possible.
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