Refund Demands on Ineligible Recipients of Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme

27 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how many individuals received Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) payouts but were later deemed ineligible; (b) how many were asked only after 2023 to return the payouts; (c) where were the reasons for the delays in refund demands; and (d) whether the cash flow impact on affected individuals was considered when making these demands.

Dr Tan See Leng: The Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) was introduced in 2020 to help Singaporean Self-Employed Persons (SEPs) with less means and family support, and whose livelihoods were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To provide timely assistance, eligibility was assessed based on applicants' declarations, for example, trade income and properties owned. Applicants whose declarations met the eligibility criteria received payouts.

Approximately 2,200 SIRS recipients, representing around 1% of all SIRS recipients, were subsequently found to be ineligible following comprehensive audits on SIRS applications. Time was taken to conduct thorough back-end checks to verify that individuals were ineligible.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has been progressively reaching out to ineligible SIRS recipients to refund their SIRS payout, as the various audit phases have been completed. To preserve the integrity of the scheme, MOM will seek recovery from all ineligible recipients but will consider the circumstances of each individual on appeal.