Singapore Budget 2016: Initiatives Relating to CPF

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23 February 2015

 

News Released by: Central Provident Fund Board

 

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced the following enhancements relating to CPF during the FY2015 Budget Statement in Parliament on 23 February 2015:​

 

More details of Singapore Budget 2015
  

Enhancing CPF Savings

 

Higher CPF Salary Ceiling

 

To keep pace with income growth over the years, the CPF Salary Ceiling (i.e. Ordinary Wage Ceiling) will be raised from $5,000 to $6,000 with effect from 1 January 2016.

 

​Increase in CPF Contribution Rates for Older Workers

 

The CPF contribution rates for workers aged above 50 years to 65 years will increase according to the schedule shown in the table below. ​

 

​Increase in CPF contribution rates for older workers from 1 January 2016​

 

Employee's age (years) Increase in contribution rates (% of wages)
Contribu​tion by employer Contribu​tion by employee T​otal
​Above 50 to 55 +1 +1 +2
Above 55 to 60 +1 - +1
Above 60 to 65 +0.5
- +0.5​

 

The increase in employer contribution rates will be allocated to the Special Account. The increase in employee contribution rates will be allocated to the Ordinary Account.

 

The increase will apply to all wages earned from 1 January 2016. Please refer to the CPF contribution rates from 1 January 2016.

 

Frequently Asked Questions on increase in CPF contribution rates for older workers (PDF, 0.3MB)

 

Enhancement and Extension of the Temporary Employment Credit (TEC)

 

The TEC will be enhanced in 2015 and extended to 2017 to help employers adjust to cost increases associated with the increase in CPF salary ceiling and the employer CPF contribution rates for older workers.

 

In 2015, employers will receive an offset of 1% of wages for Singaporean and Permanent Resident workers up to the CPF salary ceiling of $5,000. *

 

In 2016, employers will receive an offset of 1% of wages for Singaporean and Permanent Resident workers up to the CPF salary ceiling of $6,000.

 

In 2017, employers will receive an offset of 0.5% of wages for Singaporean and Permanent Resident workers up to the CPF salary ceiling of $6,000.

 

TEC payments will be made based on employees’ income paid in the respective year.

 

* This includes the 0.5% offset of wages that was announced at Budget 2014 as a one-year assistance to employers to cope with wage costs arising from the increase in CPF contribution rates to the Medisave Account.

 

​​

Enhancements to the Special Employment Credit (SEC)

 

To promote voluntary re-employment of older workers, employers who hire Singaporean workers aged 65 and above earning up to $4,000 a month will receive an additional offset of up to 3% of wages in 2015.

 

Taken together with the existing SEC incentives, employers who employ such older workers would get up to 11.5% in wage offset in 2015.

 

 

Providing Greater Support in Retirement

 

​​Extra 1% Interest on First $30,000 of Balances from Age 55

 

To make the CPF system more progressive, the Government will provide an additional 1% Extra Interest on the first $30,000 of CPF balances from the age of 55 with effect from 1 January 2016. This is on top of the existing 1% Extra Interest provided on the first $60,000 of CPF balances.

 

Information on Extra Interest

 

Silver Support Scheme

 

The new Silver Support Scheme will provide an income supplement of $300 to $750 per quarter to 20-30% of elderly Singaporeans with lesser means in their retirement years. Eligibility will take into consideration:​

  1. A person’s lifetime wages, reflected by the total CPF contributions accumulated by a person over the years;
  2. The flat type he lives in - Silver Support will be extended to those who are staying in 5-room HDB flats or smaller; and
  3. A person’s household income


The eligibility asses​sment will be done automatically and there is no need for any application. This will be implemented around the first quarter of 2016. More details will be provided closer to implementation.

 

 

Contact information

 

Members of the public may contact the CPF Board for more information.

On CPF Salary Ceiling and Contribution Rates

 

Hotline: 1800-227-1188 (Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 5.30pm)
Email: employer@cpf.gov.sg

Email: Write to us

 

On​ TEC

 

Hotline: 1800-222-2888 (Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 5.30pm)
Email: employer@cpf.gov.sg

​​​On SEC

 

Hotline: 1800-222-2888 (Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 5.30pm)
Email: employer@cpf.gov.sg

​​On CPF Interest Rates

 

Hotline: 1800-227-1188 (Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 5.30pm)
Email: Write to us
Website: www.cpf.gov.sg

24 March 2016

 

News Released by: Central Provident Fund Board

 

Minister for Finance Mr Heng Swee Keat announced the following initiatives relating to CPF during the FY2016 Budget Statement in Parliament on 24 March 2016:​

 

More details of the Singapore Budget 2016

 

 

Introduction of Silver Support Scheme

 

The Silver Support Scheme is the latest addition to our social safety nets. It is part of a wider suite of schemes (e.g. healthcare subsidies, GST voucher and Workfare) that the Government has put in place in recent years to support elderly Singaporeans.

 

The Silver Support Scheme provides a quarterly cash supplement to the bottom 20% of Singaporeans aged 65 and above. These are individuals who had low incomes through life and who currently have little or no family support.

 

Elderly Singaporeans who qualify for Silver Support will automatically receive their cash supplement. There is no need to apply.

 

 

​Enhancements to Workfare Scheme

 

The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) Scheme encourages eligible workers to continue working and build up their CPF savings for their retirement, housing and healthcare needs, by supplementing their income and retirement savings through cash payments and CPF contributions.

 

The following enhancements will take effect on 1 January 2017:

  1. Qualifying income ceiling increased from $1,900/month to $2,000/month* to take into account changes in income levels

  2. Higher WIS payouts of up to $3,600 per year 

  3. WIS to be paid monthly, for each month of work**, instead of quarterly, to provide more direct reward for work effort 

  4. Increased WIS payments to CPF Medisave and Special Accounts to boost the healthcare and retirement adequacy of WIS recipients

* Based on the average monthly income for the months worked in the past 12 months.
** The amount of payout for each month of work will be computed based on income earned in that month. The month’s income should not exceed $2,000. 

 

The first WIS payment under the enhanced Scheme will be made to eligible employees in end March 2017 for work done in January 2017.

 

The Workfare Training Support (WTS) Scheme complements WIS by encouraging Singaporean workers to attend training to improve their skills.  The following changes will also be made to the WTS scheme:

  1. ​Qualifying income ceiling extended from $1,900/month to $2,000/month to align with the increase in the WIS qualifying income ceiling

  2. WTS extended to younger Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) to support them in upgrading their skills through training

  3. WTS Training Commitment Award (TCA) to be extended to all Singaporean workers aged 35 years old and above, and PWDs aged 13 years old and above, earning up to $2,000 per month

 

Increased Medisave Withdrawal Limit for Pre-delivery Expenses under the Medisave Maternity Package (MMP)

 

The MMP allows CPF members’ Medisave to be used to pay for delivery and pre-delivery medical expenses such as consultations, ultrasounds, tests and medications.

 

From 24 March 2016, the Medisave withdrawal limit for pre-delivery medical expenses under the package will increase from $450 to $900. All mothers who deliver on or after 24 March 2016 at both public and private healthcare institutions are eligible for the enhanced withdrawal limit.

 

 

Extension of Special Employment Credit (SEC) until 2019

 

The SEC scheme encourages employers to re-employ older low-wage Singaporeans through the provision of wage-offsets. As part of continued efforts to raise the employment rate of older workers, SEC will be extended till 31 December 2019 with the following key changes:

  1. Qualifying age of 55

  2. Age-tiered payments of up to 3%, 5% and 8% of wages for those aged 55-59, 60-64 and 65 and above respectively

  3. Wage-offset of up to 16% of wages for employers hiring Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) aged 13 and above. There will be no tiering of wage-offsets by age band for eligible PWDs

The changes are applicable to Assessment Year 2017 to 2019.

    

    

Contact information

 

On Silver Support Scheme

 

Hotline: 1800-222-6622 (Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 5.30pm)
Email: contactus@silversupport.gov.sg

 

​​​On WIS

 

Hotline: 1800-222-6622 (Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 5.30pm)
Email: Write to us

 

​​​On WTS

 

Hotline: 1800-5368-3333 (Mondays to Fridays: 8.30am to 5.30pm; Saturdays: 8.30am to 1pm)
Email: wda_enquiry@wda.gov.sg

 

​​On MMP

 

Hotline: 1800-227-1188 (Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 5.30pm)
Email: Write to us

 

On SEC

 

Hotline: 1800-222-2888 (Mondays to Fridays: 8am to 5.30pm)
Email: sec@mom.gov.sg