Dear Reader,

Welcome to our Singapore Budget 2025 summary.

The following is the Budget 2025 Summary announced by Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr. Lawrence Wong in his Budget Statement for the Financial Year 2025 which was delivered in Parliament on Tuesday, 18 February 2025.

Table of Contents hide
1 OVERVIEW OF TAX CHANGES
2 SUPPORT FOR SINGAPOREANS
3 EQUIPPING WORKERS THROUGHOUT LIFE
4 EMPOWERING BUSINESSES FOR GROWTH AND SUCCESS
5 BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE CITY
 

OVERVIEW OF TAX CHANGES

  • Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Rebate and Cash Grant for Year of Assessment 2025
  • Eligible companies will receive a CIT Rebate of 50% of tax payable for YA 2025.
  • Companies employing at least one local employee in 2024 will receive a minimum benefit of $2,000 as a CIT Rebate Cash Grant.
  • The maximum benefits of CIT Rebate and CIT Rebate Cash Grant that a company may receive is $40,000.

 

Personal Income Tax (PIT) Rebate for YA 2025

  • A PIT Rebate of 60% of tax payable granted to all tax resident individuals, capped at $200 per taxpayer.

 

Extend the Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation (“DTDi”) scheme

  • To continue supporting businesses in their internationalisation efforts, the DTDi scheme will be extended till 31 December 2030.

 

Extend the Mergers and Acquisitions (“M&A”) scheme

  • To continue supporting companies to grow through M&A, the scheme will be extended till 31 December 2030.

 

Enhance Section 13W of the Income Tax Act 1947 that provides upfront certainty of non-taxation of companies’ disposal gains

  • To provide greater certainty to companies, the sunset date under Section 13W will be removed and the following enhancements will be made:
    a) Expand the scope of eligible gains to include gains from the disposal of preference shares that are accounted for as equity by the investee company under the applicable accounting principles; and
    b) Allow the assessment of the shareholding threshold condition to be done on a group basis.
  • These changes will take effect for disposal gains derived on or after 1 January 2026.

 

Introduce a tax deduction on payments to the holding company or a special purpose vehicle (“SPV”) for issuance of new shares of the holding company under employee equity-based remuneration (“EEBR”) schemes

  • To ensure that our tax regime remains relevant and competitive, companies will be allowed to claim a tax deduction on payments to the holding company or a SPV for the issuance of new shares of the holding company under EEBR schemes.
  • The deduction will be the lower of:
    a) The amount paid by the company; and
    b) The fair market value, or net asset value of the shares (if the fair market value is not readily available), at the time the shares are applied for the benefit of the employee, less any amount payable by employees for the shares.
  • The changes will take effect from YA 2026.

 

Introduce a tax deduction for payments made under an approved cost-sharing agreement (“CSA”) for innovation activities

  • To support collaborative innovation activities, a 100% tax deduction for payments made by companies under an approved CSA for innovation activities will be introduced with effect from 19 February 2025.

 

Extend and enhance the Land Intensification Allowance (“LIA”) scheme

  • To continue encouraging businesses to intensify their land use, the LIA scheme will be extended till 31 December 2030.
  • The shareholding requirement for building users to be considered as related will be lowered from “at least 75%” to “more than 50%”. This change will apply to LIA applications made from 1 January 2026.

 

Other tax changes

  • Extend and refine the Insurance Business Development (“IBD”) scheme
  • Introduce an additional CTR tier of 15% for the Financial Sector Incentive (“FSI”) scheme
  • Introduce tax incentives recommended by Equities Market Review Group such as Listing CIT Rebate for new corporate listings in Singapore;
  • Extend and enhance the income tax concessions for Real Estate Investment Trusts listed on the Singapore Exchange (“S-REITs”)
  • Extend the income tax concessions for Real Estate Investment Trust Exchange- Traded Funds (“REIT ETFs”) listed on the Singapore Exchange (“S-REIT ETFs”)
  • Introduce an Approved Shipping Financing Arrangement (“ASFA”) Award (for Ships and Containers)
  • Extend the broad-based WHT exemption for container lease payments made to non-tax-resident lessors under operating lease (“OL”) agreements
  • Introduce the Additional Flat Component (“AFC”) of road tax for electric heavy goods vehicles (“HGVs”) and buses

 

SUPPORT FOR SINGAPOREANS

For individuals

  • SG60 Vouchers – $600 for all Singaporeans aged 21 to 59
  • SG60 Vouchers – $800 for all Singaporeans aged 60 and above
  • Cash for all Singaporeans aged 21 and above – $100 to $600 Assurance Package
  • Cash for all Singaporeans aged 21 and above – $450 or $850 GST Voucher scheme for lower- and middle-income Singaporeans
  • MediSave – $150 to $450 for Singaporeans aged 65 and above
  • Additional MediSave Bonus – $500 for Singaporeans born in 1950 to 1973 with lower MediSave balances
  • Large Family LifeSG Credits – $1,000 for each third and subsequent child, in the years the child turns 1 to 6
  • Child LifeSG Credits or Edusave Account / Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) Top-up
  • $500 Child LifeSG Credits for all Singaporean children aged 12 and below
  • $500 Edusave Account / PSEA top-up 00 for all Singaporean children aged 13 to 20
  • SG60 ActiveSG Credit Top-Up – $100 for all ActiveSG members
  • SG Culture Pass – $100 for all Singaporeans aged 18 and above

 

For households

  • CDC Vouchers $800 in total for all Singaporean households
  • U-Save $440 to $760 for HDB households
  • S&CC Rebate 1.5 to 3.5 months offset for HDB households
  • Climate vouchers
    – $400 (including $100 top-up) in total for all HDB households
    – $400 for all Singaporean private property households

 

Building a Singapore Made for Families

  • $500 Child LifeSG Credits for all Singaporean children aged 12 and below
  • $500 Edusave Account or Post-Secondary Education Account top-up for all Singaporean children aged 13 to 20
  • Lower monthly full-day childcare fee caps in Government-supported preschools to reduce childcare expenses
  • New Large Families Scheme
    – $5,000 increase in Child Development Account First Step Grant for each third and subsequent child born from 18 Feb 2025
    – $5,000 Large Family MediSave Grant to mothers’ MediSave accounts for each third and subsequent child born from 18 Feb 2025
    – $1,000 Large Family LifeSG Credits annually to families for each third and subsequent child, in the years the child turns 1 to 6

 

Supporting Vulnerable Families

  • Enhance Fresh Start Housing Scheme to help more families with children living in public rental flats own a home
  • Higher rates for ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance and Long-Term Assistance

 

Supporting Seniors

  • New five-year Matched MediSave Scheme
  • Higher long-term care subsidies and grants, with more households covered
  • Higher Home Caregiving Grant of up to $600 a month
  • Expand Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme for three years to Singaporean private property households

 

Supporting Persons with Disabilities

  • Extend Enabling Employment Credit to 2028 to offset wages for hiring persons with disabilities
  • Higher subsidy rates for adult disability services with more households covered
  • Matched Retirement Savings Scheme for Singaporeans with disabilities of all ages
  • Matching grant for top-ups by caregivers to Special Needs Trust Company trust accounts

 

SG60 Package

  • $600 SG60 Vouchers in Jul 2025 for all Singaporeans aged 21 to 59
  • $800 SG60 Vouchers in Jul 2025 for all Singaporeans aged 60 and above
  • 60% Personal Income Tax Rebate for Year of Assessment 2025 for all tax residents, capped at $200
  • SG60 Baby Gift for all Singaporean babies born in 2025

 

Strengthening Our National Identity and Community Bonds

  • $100 SG60 ActiveSG Credit Top-Up in Jun 2025 for all ActiveSG members
  • $100 SG Culture Pass credits in Sep 2025 for all Singaporeans aged 18 and above
  • $100 million top-up and five-year extension to Cultural Matching Fund
  • $250 million SG Gives matching grant
  • $270 million top-up and three-year extension to Tote Board’s Enhanced Fund-Raising Programme
  • $60 million over five years for Self-Help Groups
  • $600 rental support for each stall in hawker centres and markets managed by Government and Government-appointed operators
  • Up to $1 billion over the next 20 to 30 years to upgrade and build hawker centres

 

EQUIPPING WORKERS THROUGHOUT LIFE

Encouraging Lifelong Learning

  • SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme for Singaporeans aged 40 and above
  • New $300 monthly training allowance from early 2026 for selected part-time training courses
  • Enhance Workfare Skills Support from early 2026 for lower-wage workers aged 30 and above
  • Monthly training allowance for selected part-time and full-time courses

 

Supporting Workforce Transformation

  • New SkillsFuture Workforce Development Grant with up to 70% funding support for job redesign
  • Redesigned SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit with $10,000 for eligible companies from second half of 2026 to offset out-of-pocket costs for eligible workforce transformation initiatives
  • Additional $200 million for NTUC’s Company Training Committee Grant to help more companies transform and upskill their workers

 

Strengthening Employment Support

  • CPF Transition Offset to cover half the increase in employer CPF contributions for senior workers aged above 55 to 65
  • Extend Senior Employment Credit to 2026 to offset wages for hiring senior workers
  • Extend Uplifting Employment Credit to 2028 to offset wages for hiring ex-offenders

 

EMPOWERING BUSINESSES FOR GROWTH AND SUCCESS

Manage Rising Business Costs

  • Raise co-funding levels for Progressive WageCredit Scheme in 2025 and 2026

 

Enhancing Technology and Innovation Engines

  • $3 billion top-up to National Productivity Fund
  • $1 billion investment in R&D infrastructure

 

Strengthening Enterprise Ecosystem

  • Extend support schemes for internationalisation, as well as mergers and acquisitions
  • Up to $150 million for new Enterprise Compute Initiative
  • $1 billion Private Credit Growth Fund
  • Tax incentives to support development of Singapore’s equities market
  • Launch Global Founder Programme

 

Investing in Infrastructure

  • $5 billion top-up to Changi Airport Development Fund
  • $5 billion top-up to Future Energy Fund

 

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE CITY

Adapting to Climate Change

  • $5 billion top-up to Coastal and Flood Protection Fund

 

Greening our Transport Sector

  • New Heavy Vehicle Zero Emissions Scheme and Electric Heavy Vehicle Charger Grant to accelerate adoption of clean heavy vehicles
  • New Additional Flat Component of road tax to be phased in over three years from 2026 for electric heavy goods vehicles and buses