Overview
The SRS is part of the Singapore government’s multi-pronged strategy to address the financial needs of a greying population. Details of the strategy are in the Report of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on the Ageing Population, released in November 1999.
The SRS complements the Central Provident Fund (CPF) in providing for retirement adequacy. However, unlike CPF, participation in SRS is voluntary. Participants can contribute a varying amount to SRS (subject to a cap) at their own discretion. The contributions may be used to purchase various investment instruments.
With the SRS, the government hopes to encourage Singaporeans to save more for their old age, by means of voluntary contributions to their SRS accounts. The SRS will be effective from 1st April 2001. It will be operated by the private sector.
The SRS offers attractive tax benefits. Contributions to SRS are eligible for tax relief, investment returns are accumulated tax-free (with the exception of Singapore dividends from which tax is deducted or deductible by the payer company under section 44 of the Income Tax Act prior to 1 January 2008, or are exempt in the hands of the shareholders from 1 January 2008) and only 50% of the withdrawals from SRS are taxable at retirement.
In Budget 2008, the Minister for Finance announced several enhancements to the SRS. Please click on the table showing the SRS Changes for more information. The Budget Speech 2008 Annex on these changes can be found at http://www.mof.gov.sg/budget_2008/speech_p5/annexb-6.pdf
Click here for more details of the Budget 2008 changes and the SRS transitional concession.
SRS Statistics
SRS Booklet [In English] – (Word & PDF Versions)
SRS Declaration Form
Medical Certificate Form
Please click on the SRS FAQs to learn more of the scheme.