They will receive up to $400 in cash under the 2023 Cost-of-Living Special Payment, with more given to lower and middle income groups. - ST FILE
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): About 2.5 million Singaporeans will receive a special payment in June that provides relief to the cost of living for Singaporean households, as part of efforts to help them cope with inflation and cushion the impact of the higher goods and services tax rate.
They will receive up to S$400 in cash under the 2023 Cost-of-Living (COL) Special Payment, with more given to lower and middle income groups, said the Ministry of Finance on Thursday.
Citizens who are 21 years old and above in 2023, with an annual assessable income of no more than $100,000, and who do not own more than one property are eligible for the one-off cash payout of between $200 and $400 in June 2023. This is regardless of the type of property they live in.
Among the 2.5 million eligible Singaporeans, some 850,000 seniors will receive an additional sum of up to $300 under the 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus, to provide additional cost-of-living support.
The cash payout of between $200 and $300 will be given to all senior Singapore citizens aged 55 years and above in 2023, with an annual assessable income of no more than $34,000, whose residential address is a property with an annual value not exceeding $21,000, and who do not own more than one property.
This Senior’s Bonus is in addition to the Assurance Package Seniors’ Bonus of up to $300 which was given out in February 2023.
The COL Special Payment and COL Seniors’ Bonus are one-off support measures to Singaporeans in 2023 as part of an enhanced Assurance Package, which was announced at Budget 2023 by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong.
He also announced that the package would be topped up by $3 billion, bringing the total amount to be eventually disbursed to $9.6 billion, up from the $6.6 billion announced in 2022.
The package is expected to offset at least five years of additional GST expenses for most households, and about 10 years’ worth for lower-income households.
Citizens can check their eligibility for the payouts at the Assurance Package official website by logging in with their Singpass.
To receive the payouts sooner, Singaporeans are encouraged to link their NRIC to PayNow by May 23 if they have accounts with the 10 participating banks. When this is done, they will be able to receive their 2023 COL Special Payment and 2023 COL Seniors’ Bonus as early as June 7.
Alternatively, DBS/POSB, OCBC and UOB customers without PayNow-NRIC linked bank accounts can update their bank account information at the official Assurance Package website by June 5, after which they will be able to receive the payment by June 15.
