Over 140,000 employers to receive first payment from Jobs Support Scheme from April 15

SINGAPORE — More than 140,000 employers here will start to receive the first tranche of payouts under the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) from Wednesday (April 15) onwards, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) said.

In a statement, MOF and Iras said that the payouts — totalling more than S$7 billion — will help to cover the wages of more than 1.9 million local employees here.

The JSS was introduced by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is also Finance Minister, during Budget 2020 in February, known as the Unity Budget, to provide support to employers and help them retain local employees during this period of economic uncertainty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was then further enhanced in the subsequent Resilience and Solidarity budgets by Mr Heng.

Under the JSS, the Government will co-fund the gross monthly wages paid to each local employee for a total period of nine months.

Companies with CorpPass access may log in to the myTax Portal to view these notification letters from April 20, MOF and Iras said, adding that they do not need to apply to receive the JSS payouts.

TIERS OF SUPPORT FOR DIFFERENT SECTORS

Eligible companies will be notified by post of their tier of support and the amount of JSS payout payable to them.

There are three tiers of support for employers in different sectors: Firms in the aviation and tourism sector will receive 75 per cent co-funding, firms in the food services sector will receive 50 per cent co-funding, and firms in all other sectors will receive 25 per cent co-funding.

“Alternatively, companies may check if they are eligible for JSS via the Iras website,” MOF and Iras said.

The first tranche of the JSS payout will be made from Wednesday onwards based on wages paid from October to December last year, MOF and Iras said.

Under the JSS, the Government will co-fund the first S$4,600 of gross monthly wages paid to each local employee for nine months.

ALL SECTORS TO RECEIVE 75 PER CENT CO-FUNDING FOR APRIL

MOF and Iras said that the JSS wage subsidy for the month of April will be enhanced to 75 per cent for all sectors to help firms retain and pay their workers during the circuit breaker period.

Wage support for the other months will remain at 75 per cent for firms in the aviation and tourism sector, 50 per cent for firms in the food services sector and 25 per cent for the rest. These will be paid out in July and October this year.

“This additional subsidy will be paid together with the first tranche, computed first based on October 2019 wages, and subsequently adjusted based on actual wages paid in April 2020 in future JSS tranches. Subsequent tranches will be paid in July and October,” MOF and Iras said.

They added that employers that have earlier signed up for PayNow Corporate or have existing Giro arrangements with Iras will have payouts directly credited to their registered bank accounts on Wednesday.

Companies currently not on Giro or PayNow Corporate will start receiving their cheques from April 23 onwards.