Over 95k employers get more than $1 billion in wage credit payouts
More than 95,000 employers received over $1 billion in payouts under the Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) this year to help them fund the wage increases of their Singaporean employees.
The next tranche of payouts will take place in March next year, said the Ministry of Finance and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) in a statement yesterday.
Employers do not need to apply for WCS payouts. Those who are eligible will be notified by end-March on the amount they will receive.
To qualify for the eighth tranche of payouts, employers must have raised the gross monthly wages of their Singaporean employees by at least $50 this year, or maintained the previous wage increase of at least $50 given in 2017, 2018 and/or 2019, or done both these things.
Employers must also pay the mandatory Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions for this year's staff wages to the CPF Board by Jan 14.
The payouts will be credited directly to employers' bank accounts through PayNow Corporate or Giro.
Iras and the Finance Ministry reminded employers to set up a PayNow Corporate account or register for Giro by the end of February, if they have not already done so.
The WCS has been in place since 2013 to help businesses embark on their transformation efforts and to encourage them to share their productivity gains with workers.
This year, there were two rounds of WCS payouts.
In addition to the main payout in March, employers received a second round of payouts in June as part of the $6.4 billion Unity Budget to combat Covid-19.
During the Budget 2020 speech, the scheme's gross monthly wage ceiling was raised from $4,000 to $5,000 per month for 2019 and 2020 qualifying wage increases.
The Government also announced that its co-funding levels for the 2019 and 2020 qualifying wage increases will be raised from 15 per cent and 10 per cent, to 20 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.
For more information on the scheme, employers can visit the Iras website or call its hotline on 1800-352-4727.
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