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Working Mother’s Child Relief (WMCR)

 
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The Working Mother's Child Relief (WMCR) is given to:

  • Reward families with children who are Singapore Citizens
  • Encourage parents to take up Singapore citizenship for their children
  • Encourage married women to remain in the workforce after having children

Single or male taxpayers are not eligible for this relief.

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Qualifying for Relief

To claim WMCR in the Year of Assessment (YA) 2018, you must satisfy these conditions in 2017:

  1. You are a working mother who is married, divorced or widowed;
  2. You have taxable earned income from employment or through pensions, from trade or business, or through a profession or vocation. (Your taxable earned income is your total earned income less allowable expenses.)
  3. You have maintained a child who is a Singapore Citizen as at 31 Dec 2017* and has satisfied all conditions under the Qualifying Child Relief (QCR) or Handicapped Child Relief (HCR) .

*You can claim WMCR in your tax filing for YA 2018 even if your child has passed away in 2017.

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Determining Child Order

The amount of relief varies for each child based on the child order in the family unit. The order of your child is based on the following:

For a child born to you and your spouse / ex-spouse

This is based on the date of birth shown in your child's birth certificate.

For a child born to you and your spouse / ex-spouse before you are married to your spouse/ex-spouse

This is based on the date of marriage.

For a step-child

This is based on the date of birth shown in your child's birth certificate.

For a legally adopted child

This is based on the date of legal adoption as shown in the adoption papers.

A deceased child is taken into account in determining the order of children, but not a stillborn child (a child for whom no birth certificate has been issued).

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Amount of Relief

The amount of WMCR that you can claim for each child is based on the child order, i.e. when your child was born or legally adopted. This is then matched to a percentage of your earned income. WMCR percentages are added together if you claim for more than one child and the total is capped at 100% of the mother's earned income.

The table below explains how the WMCR amount is calculated.

Child Order

WMCR Amount

1st

15% of mother's earned income

2nd

20% of mother's earned income

3rd and beyond

25% of mother's earned income

 

Please note that there will be a personal income tax relief cap of $80,000, which will apply from the Year of Assessment (YA) 2018. This cap applies to the total amount of all tax reliefs claimed. For more information, please refer to the details on Personal Income Tax Relief Cap.

Example 1: Claiming WMCR on two children

Mrs Heng has two children. In 2017, her first child received income of more than $4,000. She cannot claim child relief on this child. Mr Heng is claiming QCR on their second child. Mrs Heng is eligible to claim WMCR on her second child. Her earned income for year 2017 is $100,000. The amount of WMCR that Mrs Heng can claim for YA 2018 is:

Child Order% of Mrs Heng's earned income [A]Amount ($) [A] x Mrs Heng's earned income $100,000WMCR allowable to Mrs Heng ($)Cumulative WMCR allowable ($) (cumulative percentage of Mrs Heng's earned income)

1st

15

15,000

Nil

Nil
No WMCR is allowed on her first child as the child had income exceeding $4,000 in 2016

2nd

20

20,000

20,000

20,000
(20% of her earned income)

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Claiming Other Reliefs on the Same Child

You can claim WMCR even if you and/or your husband or ex-husband has already claimed Qualifying Child Relief (QCR) or Handicapped Child Relief (HCR) on the same child. However, you must satisfy the following conditions:

  • QCR/ HCR claims will be allowed first. (It does not matter whether the claim is made by the mother or father);
  • The total cap (QCR/HCR plus WMCR) is $50,000 per child; and
  • The WMCR is limited to what is left after the QCR/HCR claim is allowed.
Example 2:  Claiming Parenthood Tax Rebate (PTR) and WMCR

Mr and Mrs Chen's first child was born in 2017. They are both 35 years old when the child was born. Mrs Chen was working and had an earned income of $80,000 for that year.

Mrs Chen is claiming the full amount of Qualifying Child Relief (QCR) of $4,000.

Mr and Mrs Chen are also entitled to PTR of $5,000 for their first child. They have agreed to share the amount of PTR equally.

Mrs Chen is a Singapore tax resident for the Year of Assessment (YA) 2018 and her tax computation for YA 2018 is as follows:

Employment Income of Mrs Chen

$80,000

Less: Total Personal Reliefs:

 

- Earned Income Relief

$  1,000

- QCR

$  4,000

- WMCR

$12,000 (15% X $80,000)

- CPF Relief

$16,000

Chargeable Income

$47,000 ($80,000 - $33,000)

Computation of Mrs Chen's Tax Payable for YA 2018

Chargeable Income of Mrs Chen

$47,000

First $40,000

$5501

Next $7,000 @ 7%

$490

Gross Tax Payable

$1,040

Less: Parenthood Tax Rebate

$1,0402

Net Tax Payable

$0

Notes:

  1. Based on the income tax rates for Singapore tax resident for YA 2018.
  2. Both Mr and Mrs Chen are entitled to PTR of $5,000 for their first child born in 2017. Any unutilised amount of PTR will be carried forward to offset against the income tax payable for subsequent years until the rebate has been fully utilised.
Example 3: Claiming WMCR on children for whom your spouse has claimed other child reliefs

Mr and Mrs Lim have two children. Their first child is physically handicapped. Mr Lim has claimed Handicapped Child Relief (HCR) for the first child and Qualifying Child Relief (QCR) for the second child. Mrs Lim, earned an income of $250,000 in 2017.

Apart from Earned Income Relief of $1,000 and WMCR, Mrs Lim is not claiming any other personal reliefs for the YA 2018.

Mrs Lim's WMCR claim:


Child Order		% of Mrs Lim's earned income [A]Amount ($) [A] x Mrs Lim's earned income $250,000QCR/ HCR claimed by Mr Lim ($)WMCR claimed by Mrs Lim ($)Cumulative WMCR claimed by Mrs Lim ($)

1st

15

37,500

7,500

37,500

37,500

2nd

20

50,000

4,000

46,000*

37,500 + 46,000 = 83,500

Total Personal Reliefs claimed by Mrs Lim: $80,000#

* The total amount of QCR / HCR and WMCR is subject to a cap of $50,000 per child.

# The total amount of Mrs Lim's personal income tax reliefs is capped at $80,000.
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How to Claim (e-Filing)

Is this the first time you are claiming the relief?
YesNo
  1. Login with your SingPass or IRAS PIN at myTax Portal.
  2. Go to Individuals > “File Form B/B1”.
  3. Select “Edit My Tax Form”.
  4. Go to “4. Deductions, Reliefs and Parenthood Tax Rebate”.
  5. Go to “Child”.
  6. Click “Update” and enter your claim.

If the relief has been granted to you last year, this relief will be pre-filled and granted to you automatically this year.
If you need to make any changes to your relief, go to "Child", click "Update" and revise your claim.

How to Claim (Paper Filing)

Is this the first time you are claiming the relief?
YesNo

Form B1

  1. Complete item 6(b) on page 2 of Form B1. Under the 'Claim for WMCR' column, indicate Y^.
  2. Complete the particulars of your child in Appendix 2 of Form B1.

Form B1

Complete item 6(b) on page 2 of Form B1.

Form B

  1. Complete item 6(b) on page 3 of Form B. Under the 'Claiming for WMCR' field, indicate Y^.
  2. Enter the particulars of your child in Appendix 2 of Form B.

Form B
Complete item 6(b) on page 3 of Form B.

^You need not enter any amount for WMCR as we will automatically compute the allowable amount for WMCR based on your eligibility, when we process your tax return.

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  • I have filed my tax return for Year of Assessment (YA) 2018. What should I do if I have forgotten to claim or wish to withdraw my claim for WMCR?

    1. If you filed your tax return online

      Re-file within 14 days of your previous submission or by 18 Apr 2018, whichever is earlier. You can only re-file once.

      When you re-file, you must include all your income details and expenses, donations and relief claims, where applicable. Once you have re-filed successfully, your new submission will override the previous submission.

    2. If you filed a paper tax return or you could not re-file your tax return online
    3. Please email us stating:
      1. your request to claim or revise the relief for YA 2018
      2. the name and identification number of your child
      3. the child order of your child for the purposes of claiming WMCR
      4. that you have met the qualifying conditions and forward the certificate of Singapore Citizenship for your child who was not a Singapore Citizen at the time of birth.

  • I have received my tax bill for Year of Assessment (YA) 2018. The amount of WMCR is incorrect. What should I do?

    Please file an objection within 30 days from the date of your tax bill, using the “Objection to Assessment” e-Service in myTax Portal.

    If you are unable to use the e-Service, you may email us stating:

    1. your request to claim or revise the relief for YA 2018
    2. the name and identification number of your child;
    3. the child order of your child for the purposes of claiming WMCR;
    4. that you have met the qualifying conditions and forward the certificate of Singapore Citizenship for your child who was not a Singapore Citizen at the time of birth.


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