Raise personal income tax exemption threshold for 'meaningful relief' to lower- and middle-income earners: Saktiandi Supaat

Member of Parliament Saktiandi Supaat on Tuesday (Feb 24) called for the Government to raise the income tax exemption threshold to "restore" fairness in the tax structure for lower- and middle-income earners. 

For workers in Singapore, the first $20,000 they make is not taxed. 

Kicking off the Budget 2026 debate in Parliament, Saktiandi, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Trade and Industry, said that threshold has remained unchanged since its introduction in 2002, while median incomes and the GST have increased. 

"In real terms, its value has eroded… more low- and middle-income earners enter the tax base not because they are significantly better off, but because the system has not been recalibrated," he said. 

The MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC suggested raising the income tax exemption threshold to $25,000 or $30,000 to provide "meaningful relief" to families, so that they can retain more savings and build their assets. 

To maintain fiscal discipline, Saktiandi said that this move can be paired with calibrated adjustments at higher income tiers. 

"I hope the ministry will consider reviewing whether the exemption threshold remains aligned with its original purpose given more than two decades of structural wage growth, higher reliance on indirect taxation and the evolving cost of living realities," he added. 

In his speech, Saktiandi also suggested the introduction of a "Singapore Opportunity Account" to help lower-income households build assets over time. 

The proposed account will have a modest starting stake from the Government with progressive top-ups for low-income households, and a "safe, low-cost investment structure" to support education, skills upgrading, housing support enhancements or CPF top ups, he added. 

"In this way, we are not just supporting income, we are enabling mobility across the life cycle." 

Over the next three days, more than 60 Members of Parliament are expected to speak during the debate on Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's Budget statement. 

PM Wong will then wrap up the debate by addressing their concerns before the Committee of Supply debates, where each ministry will lay out their spending plans. 

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chingshijie@asiaone.com