10.7% bonus payout today - Singapore
THE last bonus payout for holders of the Economic Restructuring Shares (ERS) will be made today.
Tagged at 10.7 per cent of bonus shares, this round of payouts is the last in the scheme intended to help offset an increase in the goods and services tax (GST) from 3 to 5 per cent between 2003 and 2004.
Eligible Singaporeans received their ERS allocations annually from 2003 to 2005, with each share worth $1.
ERS earned tax-free dividends each year in the form of bonus shares, payable every year on March 1 from 2004 to this year. The rate is a minimum guaranteed 3 per cent, in addition to the real gross domestic product growth rate of the previous year.
The amount of ERS received is dependent on the annual value of the recipient’s home. This works out to $400 for most HDB flat dwellers.
Those who have held on to their ERS over the past five years would have received up to $672 worth of bonus shares.
About 800,000 Singaporeans have yet to fully exchange their shares for cash. The Central Provident Fund Board will inform them via mail, by March 10, about how they will receive their ERS payments.
Singaporeans who have previously received GST credits or cashed part of their ERS through bank accounts will receive their ERS payments automatically through the same accounts by April 7.
The rest will receive a cheque from the CPF Board by April 7. Should they prefer to have their ERS bonuses paid into a bank account, they must provide bank account details by March 24 at www.ers.org.sg or return a completed form - available at community centres or clubs and community development councils - to the CPF Board.
All cheques must be cashed by July 7. Thereafter, cheques will be void and ERS payments will be credited directly into the individuals’ CPF ordinary accounts.
The ERS will close on Sept 1.
Source : Straits Times - 01 March 2008
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