In the second part of our series covering Singapore’s 2022 budget, we look at the incentives impacting businesses.
Singapore’s S$109 billion (US$80 billion) budget provides a variety of new tax measures, such as plans to increase the goods and services tax from 2023 and an increase in personal income tax for those earning more than S$500,000 (US$371,000) from 2024.
The incentives offered to businesses include more than US$300 million in grants, loan schemes, and the expansion of reskilling programs for workers.
Singapore’s Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced a deficit of S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion) or 0.5 percent of GDP, a decrease from the S$5 billion (US$3.7 billion) deficit in 2021. The country has committed over S$100 billion (US$74 billion) over the last two years to cushion the economic impact caused by the virus, and the government will draw a further S$6 billion (US$4.4 billion) from Singapore’s vast reserve to fund public health measures.
Recovery is expected to remain uneven, especially for the aviation and tourism industries, which will take longer as concerns over the virus and new variants remain.
The government has prepared S$500 million (US$371 million) for a jobs and business support package.
Under this package, the government has introduced a new small business recovery grant, which provides a one-off cash payment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) most affected by the pandemic.
SMEs can receive a S$1,000 (US$743) per local employee, up to S$10,000 (US$7,433) per company); and
In addition, the government will distribute S$1,000 (US$743) to SFA-licensed hawkers, markets, coffee shop holders, and local sole proprietors.
The government has extended the jobs growth incentive (JGI) scheme until September 2022. The JGI is a program that helps local businesses expand local hiring by the government paying a portion of the salary of the employee.
This article was first published by AseanBriefing which is produced by Dezan Shira & Associates. The firm assists foreign investors throughout Asia from offices across the world, including in in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, India, and Russia. Readers may write to [email protected].
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