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Working Mother Child Relief – Benefit for Working Mothers in Singapore

Working Mother Child ReliefThe Working Mother’s Child Relief (WMCR) essentially is a personal tax relief programme, targeted for working mothers in Singapore.  

Their primary function is to reward families with children who are Singapore Citizens, encourage parents to take up Singapore citizenship for their children and encourage married women to remain in the workforce after having children.

 

How to Qualify for Relief

To qualify to be within this tax bracket, you need to be a working mother who is married, single or widowed and have a taxable income either from employment or through pensions, from trade or business, or through a profession or vocation. Your child is required to be a Singapore Citizen as of 31st Dec 2018 to which his/her citizenship qualifies under the Qualifying Child Relief Scheme (QCR) or Handicapped Child Relief (HCR).

There is a child order to follow upon when determining how much of tax relief is claimable under the WMCR program. Child order refers to the number of children you have under your care, the first order being in referenced to your first child and so on. Children who born to you and your spouse or ex-spouse, or children born to you and your spouse or ex-spouse before marriage are eligible to apply, including step-children and legally adopted children under your care.

 

Amount of Relief

The amount of relief is dependent on the child order, which is then matched to your income. The tax relief percentages are added together with a max capped at 100% of your taxable income. The following is the order the tax bracket is arranged:

  • 1st child: 15% of mother’s earned income
  • 2nd child: 20% of mother’s earned income
  • 3rd child and beyond: 25% of mother’s earned income

Claiming other reliefs on the same child

The government has even made it easier to claim WMCR even if you or your husband or ex-husband has already requested Qualifying Child Relief (QCR) or Handicapped Child Relief (HCR) on the same child. Nevertheless, there are several conditions to fulfil to be able to claim. QCR/ HCR claims will be allowed first. (It does not matter whether you or your spouse made a claim). Next, the total cap (QCR/HCR plus WMCR) is $50,000 per child; and the WMCR is limited to what is left after the QCR/HCR claim is allowed.