940,000 HDB households to receive final GST rebate payout in January

[SINGAPORE] About 940,000 eligible households living in Housing Board flats will be receiving rebates on their utility bills this month through the goods and services tax (GST) voucher U-Save scheme.

The scheme provides lower- and middle-income HDB households with quarterly rebates to offset their utilities bills.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Saturday said larger families will receive 2.5 times the regular amount of rebates.

About 155,000 households, with five or more members living together, will receive this higher rebate.

In a Facebook post, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is also Finance Minister, said: "I hope the higher payouts can better defray household expenses and will bring some cheer to families as we look forward to a new year."

The value of the vouchers is pegged to the type of HDB homes, with S$100 given to one- and two-room flats, S$90 to three-room flats, S$80 to four-room flats and S$70 and S$60 given to five-room and executive or multi-generational flats respectively.

The value of the rebates, which began as a permanent scheme in 2012, was doubled this year as part of the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic's economic fallout.

The additional U-Save rebates for larger families were first announced by Mr Heng last February as part of the Covid-19 Care and Support Package.

MOF said the total rebates are equivalent to about six to eight months of utility bills for one- and two-room HDB households.

This is the final round of distribution for this financial year, with earlier payouts in April, July and October last year.

The government is disbursing S$630 million through the GST voucher U-Save scheme to support households, said the Ministry. "Overall, the Government has committed S$5.9 billion in total for household transfers in financial year 2020, benefiting over 2.8 million Singapore residents," it added.

The rebates will directly offset each household's utility bill.

THE STRAITS TIMES