Total and Average Additional Tax Paid by Working Mothers Following Change in Working Mother's Child Relief Framework for YA 2025 and YA 2026

2 Ms Diana Pang Li Yen asked the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance after changing the Working Mother's Child Relief (WCMR) from a percentage of earned income to a fixed-dollar relief from Year of Assessment (YA) 2025 and based on actual YA 2025 and YA 2026 data (a) what is the total additional tax paid by affected working mothers compared with the previous WMCR framework; and (b) what is the average additional tax paid per affected working mother.

Ms Indranee Rajah: Based on Year of Assessment (YA) 2025 data, about 9,500 working mothers claimed a lower amount of Working Mother's Child Relief (WCMR) under the fixed-dollar basis than they would have under the previous percentage-based basis, for children born or adopted on or after 1 January 2024. The difference in tax paid by these working mothers is about $7.5 million in total or about $800 per person on average.

The data for YA 2026 is not yet available.