Perks for donations, handouts to lighten load on needy

Singapore

BIGGER tax incentives will be dangled to fuel the spirit of giving, with the government taking the lead by bumping up its handouts to help needy households cope with the costs of living.

The latter comes in the form of more cash in the GST Voucher and also includes a lower concessionary levy for foreign domestic maids to lighten the load on families with children and elderly parents.

Tax deduction for donations will increase from 250 to 300 per cent for donations made this Jubilee Year. At the same time, the government will extend for another three years the 250 per cent deduction for donations due to expire at end-2015

"Taken together with Care & Share matching grant support, our measures effectively multiply every dollar that the community is giving," Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said. "For every dollar that you donate in 2015, the government is more than doubling it."

Individual donations hit an all-time high of S$1.25 billion last year, thanks in part to enhanced tax incentives, said Mr Tharman.

The government recently announced an extension of its matching grant support for the Care & Share Movement till March 31, 2016. It's also providing S$250 million more in grant. "This doubles the total matching grant for Care & Share to S$500 million," Mr Tharman noted.

On its part, the government is also giving more cash under the GST Voucher scheme, introduced in 2012 to ensure lower income households are not burdened by the GST.

"We will be increasing the quantum for GSTV-Cash by S$50 across the board from 2015 onwards," Mr Tharman said. "This will benefit 1.4 million Singaporeans." Senior citizens aged 55 and above will get up to S$600 - double what they usually get. For those aged 65 and above and living in HDB flats, there's an additional S$300, for a total of S$900 this year. Altogether, these increases will cost the government S$385 million more in 2015.

The government will also hand out S$80 million in the form of one to three months of HDB Service & Conservancy Charges rebates.

The concessionary levy for foreign domestic workers will be reduced from S$120 to S$60 per month, compared to the normal levy for foreign maids of S$265. This can save a household an additional S$720 in levy a year. The qualifying criteria for the concession will also be expanded to include households with a Singaporean child aged below 16 years, up from below 12.

These changes will take effect from May 1 this year and benefit 144,500 households, according to Mr Tharman. They will cost the government about S$125 million yearly.

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