Singapore New Laws and Changes for 2022
Today marks the last day of 2021.
From Jan 1 2022, there will be changes to a few laws and policies.
1 Tray Littering rules at food courts and coffee shops
From Jan 1, there will be enforcement of tray littering rules. Failure to return trays will result in written warning for first-time offenders, $300 composition fines for second-time offenders and court fines of up to $2000 for repeat offenders.
2 Increase penalties for those who evade roadblocks
Motorists who evade roadblocks will face increased penalties. It will cover more modes of roadblock evasion other than physical dash through.
Offenders may be sentenced to up to seven year's jail and fined up to $10,000. The current maximum jail term is 12 months and a maximum fine of $5000.
3 Special Police Officers (SPOs) will have the same power as regular police officers
Currently, they have only powers of investigation. From Jan 1, they will be able to do extra duties such as setting up roadblocks, performing crowd dispersal and assisting in cases of attempted suicides. SPOs include full-time national servicemen, operationally ready NSmen, volunteer ex-NSmen, and Volunteer Special Constabulary Officers
4 Work from home will no longer be the default from Jan 1
50% of employees will be allowed to return to the office.
Only fully vaccinated of those who have recently recovered from COVID-10 to return to the workplace.
5 Vaccination - Differentiated safe management measures expanded (From Feb 1)
Vaccination differentiated safe management measures (VDS) for COVID-19 will be expanded from Feb 1. This will cover all indoor sports facilities, Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), leisure guests in hotels, hostels and serviced apartments
All events - respective of size must implement VDS to proceed.
6 Shortening of vaccination exemption for recovering non fully vaccinated person
Recovered persons from COVID-19 who are not fully vaccinated will only be given a 180-day exemption instead of 280 days, calculated starting from the day of the first positive Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test in Singapore.
This will apply to individuals who recovered from COVID-19 prior to 1 Jan 2022. Such individuals who exceed the 180-day period as of 1 January 2022 will be granted an additional one-month grace period till 31 January 2022 to complete their primary series vaccination regime.
7 Electricity tariff for households to go up by 5.6% on Jan 1
Excluding GST, it will go up from 24.11 cents to 25.44 cents per kWh for the quarter ending March 31 2022. Including GST, the rate will be 27.22 cents per kWh.
Thank goodness the WFH will not be the default for 2022.
8 CPF contribution rate raised for older workers
For those aged 55-70, CPF contribution will increase
For aged 55-60, CPF contribution will increased to 28% , up from 26%
For aged 60-65, it will increase to 18.5% from 16.5%
For aged 65 to 70, it will increase to 14% from 12.5%
CPR contribution rate remains at 12.5% for those aged 70 and above.
9 Basic Healthcare Sum and Basic Retirement Sum for CPF to be increased
Basic Healthcare sum will be raised from $63,000 to $66,000 for members under 65
Basic Retirement Sum will increase from $93,000 to $96,000 for members turning 55 in 2022.
This is increased by about 3% from the previous cohort.
10 Higher tax relief for CPF members who top-up accounts
Members who top up own CPF account in cash can enjoy tax relief of up to $8000 a year from $7000 previously. They can enjoy another $8000 tax relief when they top up their loved one's CPF as well.
This cap in tax relief is applicable for top-ups to Special, Retirement and Medisave accounts.
No comments