MAID LEVY CONCESSION

MAID LEVY CONCESSION: **

(Applications by the disabled): **

32.

Dr Fatimah Lateef asked the Acting Minister for Manpower (a) how many disabled persons or those with disabled family members have applied for the maid levy concession since its inception in September 2008; (b) for the past two years, what are the numbers of recipients for families with children younger than 12 years and elderly relatives older than 65 years; and (c) whether there are plans to consider expanding the list of families who can qualify for this levy.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: The foreign domestic worker levy concession was first introduced in August 2004 as part of the marriage and parenthood package. The objective then was to help families with elderly members or young children hire foreign domestic workers. This concession was later extended in 2007 to households with disabled persons.

Since its inception in September 2007 until December 2008, 1,365 employers have applied for the levy concession on the grounds that there is a disabled person in the household.

Including families with young children or elderly members, the total number of employers granted the FDW levy concession rose from 113,700 in 2007 to 119,500 in 2008. This is close to two-thirds of the total number of FDWs here. The coverage is already quite extensive, and there is no compelling reason to further expand the scope of this concession.

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