SINGAPORE – 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 for their Singaporean employees.

The next tranche of payouts will take place in March 2021, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) in a statement on Tuesday (Dec 22).

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 the 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 both.

Employers must also pay the mandatory 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 MOF reminded employers to set up a PayNow Corporate account or register for Giro by end February, if they have not already done so.

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.

For more information on the scheme, employers can visit the Iras website at www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/wcs.aspx or call their hotline 1800-352-4727.

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