Profile of Singaporeans and Foreigners who Contribute to Supplementary Retirement Scheme

35 Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Finance (a) in 2017, how many Singaporeans and foreigners contributed to the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) respectively; (b) what is the profile and income bracket of those contributing to SRS; and (c) whether the Ministry has any plans to review the tax relief provision under SRS.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: The Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) is a supplementary savings scheme for those who wish to save for retirement, in addition to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme. SRS also provides an avenue for foreigners, who are not allowed to contribute to CPF, to have a pension plan for retirement.

For Year of Assessment (YA) 2017, a total of 75,700 SRS members contributed to their SRS accounts. Seventy-two thousand and three hundred (96%) were locals while the remaining 3,400 (4%) were foreigners. The SRS members came from all income brackets, with a larger proportion from higher-income brackets. This is a natural result as the SRS is intended to encourage supplementary savings beyond what individuals save in CPF.

We do not currently have plans to revise the tax relief provided under the SRS scheme.