Temporary Employment Credit (TEC)

The Temporary Employment Credit (TEC) was created as a budget initiative in 2014 to mitigate the increasing cost of running a business. This employment credit reduces business costs by adding to the MediSave contribution rate established for employers in a company. TEC was initiated in 2015 for employers in Singapore. However, TEC has already stopped. It ran through 2015 and was discontinued in 2017.

Additionally, the Temporary Employment Credit (TEC), in alignment with Budget 2015, was further extended to cover the cost increase in other areas of companies such as:

• Increase in CPF salary ceiling;
• Increase by one per cent in the employer’s CPF contribution rate for older workers.

Therefore, an eligible employer would be entitled to 0.5% of wages given to Singaporean and Singapore Permanent Resident employees earning up to $5,000 per month. However, employers of Singaporean and Singapore Permanent Resident employees earning higher than $5,000 will obtain a TEC that correlates with the CPF contributions due at the CPF monthly salary total of $5,000. However, it should be noted that this payment cost is based on the employees’ income paid in 2015.

Additionally, the revenue generated under this employment credit can be taxable as TEC payouts. For more information on how to determine taxable and non-taxable income, refer to this IRAS.

How is the TEC Payout Given?

Once all required processes have been executed, all eligible applicants would receive their REC payment in the bank account linked to the registration form with the CPF Board. In other cases where your bank account is not linked to the registration with the CPF board, eligible applicants would receive a cheque for the TEC payouts, which they are supposed to cash out within six months of issuance. Failure to comply with this regulation would result in fortification