Solidarity Budget: More self-employed persons to get cash payouts under expanded criteria

ABOUT 100,000 self-employed persons will now automatically be eligible for the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS), following two enhancements announced on Monday to broaden support for this category of Singaporeans.

The scheme, which provides direct cash assistance, will be extended to now automatically include self-employed persons who also earn a small income from employment work, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said on Monday while unveiling the new Solidarity Budget.

Also, the current Annual Value threshold will be raised to a ceiling of S$21,000. This is a qualifying threshold based on the annual value of a person's home.

The new ceiling, up from a previous ceiling of S$13,000, will allowthose who live in some condominiums and other private properties to qualify for SIRS.

The other criteria remain unchanged, DPM Heng said in Parliament on Monday.

He added that many have shared their views that SIRS is "overly generous". Some have asked why the government allows self-employed persons with annual net trade income of up to S$100,000 to qualify for the scheme.

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He noted that some self-employed persons are own account workers such as taxi drivers who do not have any paid workers, while others are sole proprietors who own small businesses that have staff and a network of business relations.

"In these extraordinary times, many such self-employed persons are hard-hit. I hope that by our helping them, they too can help others in their networks and their workers, and we keep the spirit of enterprise alive," DPM Heng said on Monday.

He reiterated that those who do not need SIRS and do not qualify should not come forward to appeal for and abuse the support. "Otherwise, you undermine public confidence and take up unnecessary resources," he added.

The Ministry of Manpower will work closely with the National Trades Union Congress to start processing appeals for SIRS as soon as possible.

Read more: Resilience Budget: Self-employed persons to get S$1,000 cash each month, more training allowance