900,000 S'porean HDB households to receive U-Save rebate in January

SINGAPORE — Some 900,000 Singaporean households will receive the next instalment of the GST Voucher – Utilities-Save (U-Save) rebate this month, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Wednesday (Jan 2).

Eligible Singaporean households will each receive a GST Voucher – U-Save rebate of up to S$100, depending on their Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat type.

“As announced in Budget 2018, eligible households will receive an additional S$20 per year (S$5 per quarter) for three years, from 2019 to 2021,” said the MOF. The increase is meant to help households adjust to the carbon tax, which will be implemented from this year.

During last year's Budget debate in Parliament, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli had said that the impact of the carbon tax on households is expected to be small, at about 1 per cent of the total electricity and gas expenses.

The U-Save rebate is one of three components under the permanent GST Voucher scheme, and helps HDB households offset part of the utility bills, the MOF said.

The ministry added that the voucher lowers the overall household expenses and is disbursed every three months, with the total expenditure on U-Save rebates expected to amount to around S$300 million this year.

Annually, the permanent GST Voucher – U-Save rebate has enabled households in one- and two-room HDB flats to receive support which is equivalent to about three to four months of their utilities bills on average.

Those living in three- and four-room HDB flats have received support equivalent to about one to two months of their utilities bills, said the MOF.