“Let me assure everyone: We will always have your backs,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong told Singapore on 16 Feb 2024 as he presented the nation’s 2024 Budget. He was met with applause all around—who wouldn’t be cheering after being told you’re getting an additional $600 in CDC vouchers and up to $400 in a cost-of-living special payment?
Each year, the Singapore Budget tells us how the government plans to allocate its money to combat issues like inflation, rising costs of living, and keeping our skills relevant in today’s fast-paced working environment.
How will Budget 2024 affect you? Here are 10 things you need to know.
Your government payouts in 2024: $600 in CDC vouchers, up to $400 cash, and more
First introduced in Budget 2020, the Assurance Package addresses rising costs of living for Singaporeans. This year, it’s getting a $1.9 billion boost! The GST Voucher fund is also getting a S$6 billion top-up to defray GST costs through GST Voucher Scheme, which includes rebates like U-Save and Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) rebates.
When you put these together, here’s a breakdown of the additional payouts you’ll get this year as announced during Budget 2024:
| Scheme | Who is eligible? | How much will I receive? | When will I receive it? |
| Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers | All Singaporean households | $600 in CDC vouchers | $300 in Jun 2024, $300 in Jan 2025 |
| Cost-of-living special payment | Singapore Citizens who: – Are aged 21 and above in 2024 – Live in Singapore – Do not own more than one property — Have an assessable income of up to $100,000 |
$200 to $400 | Sep 2024 |
| Additional U-Save rebate | Eligible HDB households | Up to $950 | Apr, Jul and Oct 2024; Jan 2025 |
| S&CC rebate (one-off) | Eligible HDB households | 0.5 months of charges | Jan 2025 |
What do these mean for you?
- CDC vouchers: Your household gets $600 in CDC vouchers to use at a wide range of merchants, from supermarkets to hawker stalls. This is on top of the $500 in CDC vouchers your household has already received this year, which are valid until the end of 2024.
- Cost-of-living special payment: You get $200 to $400 in cash to spend however you like.
- Additional U-save rebate: You get up to 4 months of utility bills covered (for 3- and 4-room flats), with a cap of $950.
- One-off S&CC rebate: Together with the regular S&CC rebates, this one-time rebate covers up to 4 months of service and conservancy charges.
Subsidies for families renting HDB flats on the open market
What do you do after you’ve booked your HDB BTO flat and are waiting for it to be ready? Currently, families can enjoy subsidised HDB rental housing under the Parenthood Provisional Housing Scheme (PPHS). Soon, you’ll be able to get a voucher to rent an HDB flat in the open market too with the PPHS (Open Market) Voucher. The government will provide this voucher for 1 year.
ALSO READ: HDB BTO Feb 2024 Review—Locations, Expected Application Rates, Prices, and More
CPF—Increase in contribution rates, closure of CPF SA for those aged 55 years and over
CPF contribution rates are going up by 1.5 percentage points in 2025 for Singaporeans aged 55 to 65. The rates are currently 31% for those aged above 55 to 60 and 22% for those aged above 60 to 65.
In 2025, the Enhanced Retirement Sum (ERS) is also undergoing changes. It will be increased from 3 times to 4 times the Basic Retirement Sum (BRS)—S$426,000. The ERS is the maximum sum you can put into your retirement account (RA); putting more money into it means you get higher retirement payouts.
The government is also closing the Special Account (SA) for those aged 55 and above. SA savings will be transferred to the RA (where the interest rate is 4.08% p.a. for those aged 55 years and above) up to the Full Retirement Sum (FRS). The remaining money will go into your Ordinary Account (OA), where the interest earned is 2.5% p.a..
ITE graduates: $5,000 PSEA top-up, $10,000 CPF OA top-up
Graduates from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) will get a $5,000 boost to their Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) of S$5,000. This applies to those aged 30 years and below who enrol in a diploma programme, and aims to help offset the costs of pursuing a polytechnic diploma.
That’s not all. Finish your diploma programme and you’ll get another S$10,000 injection into your CPF Ordinary Account!
$4,000 SkillsFuture Credit top-up
All Singaporeans aged 40 and above will get a $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit top-up in May 2024 under a new SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme.
What about younger Singaporeans? “Your turn will come. You will get the top-up when you turn 40!” DPM Wong said during his presentation, to some chuckles. Be patient. On the plus side, this $4,000 will have no expiry date, so take your time to decide what to do with it.
Healthcare support: $300 to $1,500 Medisave bonus
If you’re a Singaporean aged 21 to 50, you’re going to receive a one-time MediSave Bonus of up to $300 in 2024. The exact amount you get will depend on the year you were born and the value of any property you own as of 31 Dec 2023. Expect to see the top-up in your CPF MediSave account in Dec 2024.
If you’re born in 1973 or earlier, your MediSave Bonus is bumped up to $1,500 for young seniors. Other seniors will receive S$750.
Pre-schools are going to be more affordable.
Families can look forward to more subsides at government-supported pre-schools.
Monthly childcare fee caps will be reduced to S$640 (from $680) for anchor operator preschools and S$680 (from $720) for partner operator preschools. There are plans to lower them more in 2026 too.
The government also plans to extend subsidies to all children from lower-income families—including those with non-working mothers. Currently, children with working mothers enjoy more subsidies.
50% income tax rebate for everyone
As long as you need to pay income tax, you’ll get a personal income tax rebate of 50% for the year of assessment 2024. However, there is a cap of $200—these benefits aim to support mainly middle-income workers.
ALSO READ: 10 Ways to Reduce Your Personal Income Tax in Singapore for YA 2024
NSmen will get $200 LifeSG credits.
If you did national service (NS) in Singapore, you’re going to get $200 in LifeSG credits in 2024. This applies to all past and present NSmen, and you can expect to get them in Nov this year. Use these credits at 100,000 merchants via the LifeSG mobile app. Don’t forget to redeem them within a year, because they expire after!
Nationwide broadband speeds are going to get 10x faster.
Faster internet is on the way! Singapore is going to upgrade its nationwide broadband network to up to 10GBPS by 2030. To put things into perspective, that’s 10 times faster than the broadband speeds most homes get now.
This is in an effort to support new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI)—which the government is investing over $1 billion into over the next 5 years.
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About the author
Vanessa Nah is a personal finance content writer who pens articles on the ins and outs of personal loans, the T&Cs of credit cards, and the ups and downs of alternative investments. She’s a researcher at heart and leaves no stone unturned when it comes to breaking down complex finance concepts and making them easy to understand for the everyday Singaporean. When Vanessa’s not debunking finance myths, you’ll find her attending dance classes, fingerpicking a guitar, or (most impawtently) fulfilling her life mission to make her one-eyed cat the most spoiled and loved kitty in the world.
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