Covid-19, we will overcome! Just few months ago, beauty parlours and nail salons were packed with Singaporeans dolling up for Chinese New Year. Fast forward to April 2020, all beauty services except for hair cuts have to cease operation temporarily till circuit breaker is over. Budget 2020 was enhanced thrice to help support our local businesses. We sum up the latest measures in Budget 2020 to help affected beauty businesses in Singapore.
Table of Contents
Temporary Bridging Loan
- Applicable to sectors from 1 Apr 2020 to 31 Mar 2021
- Max loan quantum of $5 mil with max repayment period of 5 years
- Government’s risk share: 90% for loans initiated from 8 Apr 2020 to 31 Mar 2021
- Interest rate: capped at 5% per annum
- Option to request for deferment of principle repayment for 1 year on case by case basis
- Apply through participating financial institutions such as OCBC, DBS and UOB
SME Working Capital
- Enhanced from 1 Apr 2020 to 31 Mar 2021
- Max loan quantum of $1 mil, with max repayment period of 5 years
- Government’s risk share: 90% for loans initiated from 8 Apr 2020 to 31 Mar 2021
- Interest rate: subject to participating financial institutes such as OCBC, DBS and UOB
- Option to request for deferment of principle repayment for 1 year on case by case basis
Rental Wavials
- For Government owned or managed properties such as JTC, HDB, NParks
- Commercial tenants such as retail outlets will get 2 months’ worth of rental waiver
- No application is required
Property Tax Rebate
- Landlords of commercial properties such as retail outlets will receive 100% property tax rebate
- Landlords of non residential properties such as offices and industrial properties will receive 30% property tax rebate
- Laws to ensure property owners pass on Property Tax rebate to tenants
- No applicable is required.
COVID 19 Temporary Measures Bill
- New bill allows businesses to defer certain contractual obligations for ~6 months. For example, landlords cannot terminate leases or evict tenants. Tenants are allowed to suspend rental payments and loans payments
- Covers obligations to be performed on or after 1 Feb 2020 for contracts entered before 25 March 2020
Enhanced Jobs Support Scheme
- Raised wage support to 75% for each local worker in April and May 2020
- Co funding of wages to increase from 8% to 25% for each local worker (SG/PR) from Oct to Dec 2019 and Feb to Jul 2020
- Qualifying wage ceiling increased to $4,600
- First payout to companies in April 2020
- No application required
Foreign Worker Levy (FWL) Relief
- Waiver of FWL due in April and May 2020
- FWL rebate of $750 in April and May 2020 from levies paid this year for each work pass holder
- No application is required
Enhanced absentee payroll
- Enhanced rates to 90% of hourly salaries at an increased cap of $ 10 per hour
- Applicable to all courses that are eligible for absentee payroll funding. For example, elected courses by SSG appointed CET Centres or certifiable courses by other SSG approved training providers
Job Redesign Place and Train for Retail
- Up to 6 months salary support up to 70% of monthly salaries capped at $2,000 per month
- For Singapore Citizens aged 40 and above, up to 90% of monthly salaries capped at $3,000 per month
- Companies must have a clear plan on how to redesign old job roles into new ones
- New job roles should also be offered monthly gross salaries of at least $1,800 after the programme
- To apply with WSG or Singapore Institute of Retail Studies
SGUnited Jobs Initiative
- Facilitate job matching for workers and alleviate manpower strain on agencies and businesses
- An SGUnited Jobs Virtual Career Fair (VCF) will be held on SGUnitedJobs.gov.sg from 30 Mar to April 12 for employers in need of temporary manpower
- Employers will be able to attend virtual interviews with jobseekers
- Participating employers need to register and post their jobs on MyCareersFuture, which will be migrated to the VCF when it begins
- Employers then need to log in onto the VCF during the stipulated period
- Job applications on the MyCareersFuture portal will also be used for subsequent virtual career fairs
- To participate, please post jobs on MyCareersFuture website
SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit (SFEC)
- SFEC encourages employers to invest in enterprise and workforce transformation.
- Tap on SFEC to defray out of pocket expenses for a one off $10,000 credit per firm to cover up to 90% of out of pocket expenses
- Supportable programs which SFEC can be tapped on include: Productivity Solutions Grant, ESG Enterprise Development Grant, ESG Market Readiness Assistance Grant, WSG PCP, Place and train programme and job redesign initiatives
- No application required; Companies who fulfil the eligibility criteria will be informed
Productivity Solutions Grant Job Redesign (PSG JR)
- Work with pre approved consultants to redesign work processes, tasks and responsibilities to make jobs more productive and attractive to employees
- Up to 70% funding capped at $30,000 per company
- Tap on SFEC to defray out of pocket (OOP) expenses one off $10,000 credit per firm, to cover up to 90% of OOP expenses
- Apply on Business Grants Portal
Enhanced Enterprise Development Grant (EDG)
- From 1 Apr to 31 Dec 2020, support level will be raised from up to 70% to up to 80% for all projects relating to (i) Productivity, (ii) Innovation and (iii) Market Access.
- Apply on Business Grants Portal
Enhanced Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)
- From 1 Apr 2020 to 31 Dec 2020, support level will be raised from 70% to 80%
- Scope of pre approved digital solutions under PSG will be expanded to help SMEs implement safe distancing and business continuity measures. PSG will cover:
- Online collaboration tools
- Virtual meeting and telephony tools
- Queue management systems
- Temperature screening solutions
- Apply for PSG on Business Grants Portal
More information can be found at Budget 2020 booklet here.
