Helping companies with cash flow has been one of the major goals of the Singapore government during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Various schemes have been introduced, and rental relief is one of them.
What is the Rental Relief for Singapore Companies?
Singaporean Companies will get a waiver on their rent costs for up to four months during the period of the circuit breaker. The waiver they get depends on the sector they are operating in, and the financial hardships they have been having.
Companies in the agriculture, industrial, and commercial office sectors can get an initial rental waiver of one month. If they continue seeing a significant decrease in the revenue, the rebates will be open for an additional month.
Other SMEs will initially get two months waiver, and get rebates for another two months if they are still facing financial difficulties.
SMEs operating in government property will get rental discounts of four months.
Who Will Pay the Rental Waiver in Singapore?
You see, there are actually two stages of the rental waiver. The government had first decided to rebate companies for the rent, but as the Singapore SMEs Revenue Decline continued, authorities had to extend the scheme.
For the first phase, i.e. two months, the government is going to pay the rental waiver to the landlords. For the next two months, landlords will be liable for the rent of their tenants.
For industrial, agriculture, and commercial offices, the government pays the rent of one month, and landlords give a discount for another month.
What is the Eligibility for the Rental Waiver?
For the second phase of the rental relief, the receiving company should be an SME and should have recorded a significant decrease in turnover. Here are the conditions to be eligiblefor the rental relief:
- The turnover should have decreased by a rate of 35%.
- The annual turnover in the year of assessment is not more than $100 million.
- The tenancy agreement should have been signed before 25 March 2020.
If a landlord is not sure if these conditions have been met; they can seek assessments. You can read the Singapore budget 2020 summary to know more about the government assistance for business during COVID-19.
