Self-employed relief expect to total S$2b, more than budgeted S$1.2b

Singapore

THE Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme is expected to cost S$2 billion in total with the disbursement of the third and final tranche in October, far more than the S$1.2 billion set aside in the Resilience Budget in March, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said in Parliament on Friday.

Over S$1.1 billion has already been disbursed in the first two tranches, she said in response to Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui.

The means-tested scheme is to help self-employed persons with less means or family support to weather this crisis, with payouts of S$3,000 each in May, July, and October.

So far, 190,000 individuals have received payouts, of whom 100,000 qualified automatically and 90,000 qualified after applying.

The income eligibility criteria covered over 80 per cent of Singaporeans with taxable income, while the annual value of housing covered about nine in 10 owner-occupied residential properties. Spousal income is also considered.

But the government has been exercising flexibility in the qualifying criteria, to support more self-employed persons, and about two in every three applications have been approved, said Mrs Teo.

Applications that were not approved may have been rejected because applicants had been high earners, lived in high-value properties, or own two or more properties along with their spouses.

As for the question of whether there will be further relief for the self-employed after the scheme ends, Mrs Teo noted that the government has said that it is studying appropriate ways to support employees and self-employed persons "who are most vulnerable", beyond existing schemes.