Income Tax 2021 : Relief and Rebate for family

 

Have you done your taxes yet?

Disclosure:
* This post is meant for information only and does not constitute tax advice
Do refer to IRAS for more details on tax rebates.

It is time once again to submit your income tax. The dates to submit your taxes are from 1 March to 18 April . For paper filing, you are to required to submit it by 15 Apr.

For those who had yet submitted and are preparing your taxes, you may want to reference this to claim relief and rebate. For those with family, such rebates and relief can be substantial. Maximizing your tax rebate and relief will go a long way in saving funds for your family.

Do note that tax relief would help to reduce the amount taxable.  On the other hand, the tax rebate will be used to offset the actual income tax paid.

Tax Relief ( FOR MOMMY AND DADDY)

Qualifying Child Relief

You may claim QCR / HCR for the year of assessment if you have a child born to your or your spouse. ex-spouse or child is a stepchild or legally adopted. The child should be below 16 years old or studying full time at any university, college or other educational institution at any time in 2020.
The child also should not have an annual income of $4000 ( includes National Service Allowances, Income from Internship and attachment). 

For HCR, the child is to be mentally or physically handicapped.

Amount of Relief
QCR - $4000 per child
HCR - $7500 per child

You can only claim QCR or HCR in the same child.

Relief can be shared between spouses. Note that there is a cap of $50,000 per child for Working Mothers claiming Working mothers Child Relief (WMCR) and QC.

Spouse Relief / Handicapped Spouse Relief
You can claim spouse relief if your spouse is living with or supported by you in the previous year AND your spouse does not have an annual income exceeding $4000 in the previous year (does not apply to handicapped spouse). There are other guidelines for Legally separated spouses and divorced spouses. Do refer here for clarification.

Amount of Relief
Spouse Relief: $2000
Handicapped Spouse Relief $5500

Tax Relief ( FOR MOMMY)

Working Mother's Child Relief ( WMCR)
WMCR is given to married women, divorced or widowed who remain in the workforce after having children.

To qualify, you need to maintain a child who is a Singapore Citizen as at 31 Dec 202 and satisfied all conditions under the Qualifying Child Relief( QCR)/ Handicapped Child Relief.

Additionally, you are earning a taxable income from employment, pensions, trade, business, profession or vocation. For more qualifiers, do refer here

Amount of Relief
1st Child - 15% of mother's earn income
2nd Child -20% of Mothers earn income
3rd child and beyond, 25% of mothers earned income

Foreign Maid Levy (FML) Relief
FML relief is provided for married women who are working. To claim this relief, you must satisfy the following conditions

1 You or your husband employed a foreign domestic worker in 2020
2 You were married and lived with the husband or married and your husband was not a tax resident or separated from husband, divorced or widowed and had children who lived with you.

Amount of Relief
Twice the total foreign domestic worker levy paid
Total Levy paid in 2020 $3600 ($399 x 12) - Maximum Relief $7200
Total Levy paid in 2020 $720 ($60 x 12) - Maximum Relief $1440

Grandparent Caregiver Relief (GCR)
GCR is given to working mothers who engage the help of their parents, parents-in-law or grandparents-in-law to take care of children.

To qualify for this, you have to be a working mother who is married, divorced or widowed. Also, do refer to the following guidelines for qualification. Only one person can claim GCR on the same caregiver. If you have siblings whose child is under your parent care, you may want to discuss who can claim for this.

Amount of Relief
You can claim $3000 on one of the parent, grandparents or in-laws.

Note that a Personal Income Tax Relief Cap of $80,000 applies to the total amount of Tax Reliefs claimed for each Year of Assessment

NSman Wife Relief

If you are a Singapore Citizen and your husband is eligible for NSman self relief you can claim NSman Wife Relief

Amount of Relief
$750

TAX REBATE (Mommy and Daddy)
Parenthood Tax Rebate
If you have a child born in 2020, you qualify for Parenthood Tax Rebate.

For children born from 2008 onwards, these are the rebates you can expect.
1st Child $5000
2nd Child $10000
3rd and subsequent Child $20000


The rebate can be shared between parents. PTR will carry follow to the next tax year automatically if there is a remaining balance in the account.

Tax reliefs will be allowed if the qualifying conditions are met in the previous year. For example, if your child was born in 2020, child-related reliefs and rebates in respect of him/her will be considered with effect from the Year of Assessment (YA) 2021.

Please note that a personal income tax relief cap of $80,000 applies to the total amount of all tax reliefs claimed for each Year of Assessment.