CPFB | Workfare Income Supplement

Updates on 20 Apr 2021

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Overview

Helping you save for the future

CPF payments that grow your savings for retirement, housing and healthcare, plus cash payments to supplement your income, are some of the financial support that you can tap on.

About Workfare

Introduced in 2007, the Workfare Income Supplement is a broad-based measure that tops up the salaries of lower-income workers to help them save for retirement.

Workfare is targeted at Singaporean workers whose earnings are in the bottom 20%, with some support for those slightly above.

Over S$9.5 billion* of WIS has been disbursed to 990,000* lower-income workers.

* As at June 2023, up to WY2022 WIS

Workfare is paid in the form of CPF payments and cash to supplement their incomes.

Employee

WIS for employees

If you are an eligible employee, you will receive CPF payments to help you save for retirement, plus cash payments to supplement your income.

Eligibility

You qualify for WIS if you are:

a Singapore Citizen;
at least 30 years old (previously 35 years old) as of 31 December of the work year, or persons with disabilities of any age
earn a gross monthly income¹ of at least $500², but not more than $2,500 (previously $2,300) for the month worked and in the past 12 months (average gross monthly income) as an employee

¹Gross monthly income includes basic salary and extra wages such as overtime pay and bonuses.

²Persons with disabilities, workers who qualify for ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance and caregivers of care recipients (generally include caregivers residing with care recipients who are medically certified to have permanent moderate to severe disabilities) will qualify for concessionary WIS, even if they earn less than $500. Eligible caregivers will receive concessionary WIS from Q4 2023 for Work Year 2023 onwards.

You are not eligible for WIS if you:

live in a property with an annual value¹ of more than $13,000 (assessed as at 31 December of the preceding year)
own two or more properties
are married, and you and your spouse own two or more properties together, or your spouse’s income for the preceding year of assessment exceeds $70,000.

¹Annual value is the estimated gross annual rent on a property, excluding furniture, furnishings and maintenance fees. It is determined based on estimated market rentals of similar or comparable properties.

Check WIS eligibility

Receiving WIS payments

How WIS payments are allocated

You will receive 40% of your WIS in cash and 60% in CPF contributions. We will credit the cash portion to your PayNow NRIC-linked bank account if you have one. Otherwise, it will be credited to the bank account that you have registered to receive Government benefits, or via GovCash if you had not registered a bank account with us. If you need to update your local bank account details, you can do so after logging in to the e-Services.

Update bank details

Actions required

If you are an employee, there’s no further action required

We will automatically assess your eligibility for WIS based on the CPF contributions made by your employer.

If your employer is not contributing CPF on your behalf, please approach your employer to clarify on the discrepancies. If your employer does not provide you with a satisfactory response, you can lodge a report with CPF Board.

If you worked as both an employee and a self-employed person,

You will first be assessed for your work done as an employee and you will receive monthly WIS if you meet the criteria.

After the work year, we will assess your eligibility for additional WIS, based on your total income for the year (both employee and self-employed income).

Your WIS payments

The table below shows the maximum WIS amount you can receive each year, based on your age group.

Age	Maximum Annual WIS
Age	2022	From 2023
30-34	Not applicable	$2,100
35-44	$1,700	$3,000
45-54	$2,500	$3,600
55-59	$3,300	$3,600
60 and above	$4,000	$4,200
Persons with disabilities will receive the same amount as those who are aged 60 and above.

You can also use the online WIS calculator to estimate how much you will receive.

Calculate your WIS

Payment schedule

As an employee, you will receive WIS every month. The table below shows when you will receive the payments.

If you worked in	You will receive the WIS in your bank account or via GovCash in
If you worked in	PayNow-NRIC / Bank Crediting	GovCash
Jan	End Mar	1st week of April
Feb	End Apr	1st week of May
Mar	End May	1st week of June
Month x	End of month (x+2)	1st week of the following month (x+3)

Check WIS payments

Self-employed

WIS for self-employed persons

If you are an eligible self-employed person (SEP), you can get MediSave payments to help you save for your healthcare needs, plus cash payments to supplement your income.

Eligibility

You qualify for WIS if you are:

a Singapore Citizen
at least 30 years old as of 31 December of the work year, or persons with disabilities of any age. To qualify for WIS for work done prior to 2023, you are at least 35 years old as of 31 December of the work year
earn an average monthly income of at least $500¹ (applicable for work done in 2023 onwards), but not more than $2,500 (previously $2,300 for work done before 2023)
have declared your net trade income and made MediSave contributions.

¹ Persons with disabilities, workers who qualify for ComCare Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance and caregivers of care recipients (generally include caregivers residing with care recipients who are medically certified to have permanent moderate to severe disabilities) will qualify for concessionary WIS, even if they earn less than $500. Eligible caregivers will receive concessionary WIS from Q4 2023 for Work Year 2023 onwards.

You are not eligible for WIS if you:

live in a property with an annual value¹ of more than $13,000 (assessed as of 31 December of the preceding year)
own two or more properties
are married and you and your spouse own two or more properties together, or your spouse’s income for the preceding year of assessment exceeds $70,000.

Check WIS eligibility

Receiving WIS payments

How WIS payments are allocated

You will receive 10% of your WIS in cash and 90% in your MediSave account. We will credit the cash portion into your PayNow NRIC-linked bank account if you have one. Otherwise, it will be credited to the bank account that you have registered to receive Government benefits, or via GovCash if you had not registered a bank account with us. If you need to update your bank account details, you can do so after logging into the e-Services.

Update bank details

Actions required

You will need to declare your income

For Work Year 2023 (WY2023) onwards

All Net Trade Income (NTI) declarations for Work Year 2023 (Year of Assessment 2024) can be made with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) by filing a tax return. There is no need to file separate declarations with CPF Board.

If you receive a notification (via letter/form/SMS) to file tax from IRAS, or you meet the requirement to file tax (i.e. NTI above $6,000 and/or Total Income above $22,000), please complete and submit the tax return to IRAS directly. The income tax filing period is from 1 March to 18 April annually.

If you do not receive a notification from IRAS or do not meet the requirement to file tax, you can declare your self-employed NTI to IRAS via myTax Portal which will be available from 1 March to 31 October annually for taxpayers to e-File tax returns.

Once IRAS has assessed your income for the year, your assessed NTI will be transmitted to the Board. You can check your updated NTI records by logging in to the Self-employment dashboard with your Singpass.

For Work Year 2022 (WY2022) or earlier

If you were not issued a Notice of Assessment (NOA) by IRAS and wish to declare NTI for work years prior to 2023, you can write to us via My Mailbox using your Singpass.

If you have declared your NTI with IRAS, you need not declare your income again to the Board.

Make sure you’ve made the required contributions into your MediSave account.

Quick tip

The earlier you declare your income and make the required MediSave contributions, the sooner you will receive your WIS.

Your WIS payments

The table below shows the maximum amount of WIS you can receive each year, based on your age group.

Age	Maximum Annual WIS
Age	2022	From 2023
30-34	Not applicable	$1,400
35-44	$1,133	$2,000
45-54	$1,667	$2,400
55-59	$2,200	$2,400
60 and above	$2,667	$2,800
Persons with disabilities will receive the same amount as those who are aged 60 and above.

You can also use the online WIS calculator to estimate how much you will receive.

Calculate your WIS

When you will receive WIS payments

As an SEP, you will receive WIS payments once a year for work done in the preceding year.

If you are an eligible Self-Employed Person (SEP), you will receive WIS once a year for work done in the preceding work year. The earliest payment for SEPs for a particular Work Year (WY) will be in end April of the following work year, provided you have declared your income and contributed to your MediSave by the following WY.

Check WIS payments

Employer

What you need to know as an employer

We will automatically assess your employees’ eligibility for WIS based on the CPF contributions you make. For more information such as Employer obligations and making CPF contributions, you may visit the Employer section.

Find out more about your CPF obligations at the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) website on the Workright initiative.

Visit MOM

How WIS helps employers

WIS encourages Singaporeans to work, making it easier for you to hire and retain local workers.

WIS is fully paid for by the Government and doesn’t increase business costs for local enterprises.