You can get a waiver for your foreign worker levy payments only under certain specific situations. These include overseas leave and hospitalisation leave.
When and what you need to get a levy waiver
| If the worker |
You need |
| Attended the Onboard programme at the Onboard centre. |
No documents needed. The levy waiver will be processed automatically. |
Went on overseas leave for at least 7 consecutive days.
Capped at 60 calendar days per calendar year. |
No documents needed. Apply for the waiver after the migrant worker returns to Singapore.
If the worker chooses not to return from their overseas leave, cancel the Work Permit before you apply for a waiver.
|
Was issued with hospitalisation leave by a Singapore-registered doctor from a local medical institution.
Capped at 60 calendar days per calendar year. |
Medical certificate (MC) showing all of the following:
- Worker's name and FIN
- Period of hospitalisation leave
- Name of clinic or hospital
- Doctor's name
- MC number
|
| Was in the custody of the police or embassy |
A letter from the relevant organisation stating the period of custody. |
| Passed away |
A copy of the death certificate. |
| Is on board a vessel leaving Singapore’s port for at least 3 consecutive days (for harbour-craft industry) |
A declaration form signed by vessel's captain from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) stating the period the worker was on board the vessel. |
| Is a Malaysian serving National Service in home country/region (usually for 3 months) |
All of the following:
- A letter from the Malaysia Authority stating the period the worker was required to do National Service
- A copy of the National Service certificate of completion
|
When and how to apply
You can apply for the levy waiver from the 1st of the following month after receiving the levy bill. You must apply within 1 year of the levy bill.
If the waiver period you are applying for is from March 2024 to April 2024, you can submit the application between 1 June 2024 and 31 March 2025.
Receive the outcome
The levy waiver request will be processed within 12 working days. It may take longer if additional information is required from the applicant or other agencies such as the Immigration Checkpoints & Authority or Police.
You can check the application status for each worker. The outcome will be updated for each worker as soon as it is available. Once we have processed the levy waiver for all the workers in the application, you will receive an email summarising the outcome for all workers in the application.
After your waiver is approved
The amount waived will be credited into your levy account to offset your next levy bill. Any remaining amount that was not used to offset the next levy bill will be shown as 'CR' in your account summary in Check and pay foreign worker levy. It will then remain in your levy account to offset any future levy payments.
If you do not have upcoming levy bills, you can apply for
levy refund to have the outstanding amount credited into your bank account.
How to calculate the waiver
Amount waived = Monthly levy rate - Levy payable
Scenario
- Waiver period: 1 – 15 September
- Worker’s levy rate: $600 monthly (or $19.73 daily)
How to calculate
- Count the number of days from 16 to 30 September where levy is payable, i.e. 15 days.
- Find out the amount of levy payable using daily rate, i.e. 15 days × $19.73 = $295.95
- Amount waived = Monthly levy rate - Levy payable
$600 (monthly levy rate) - $295.95 (levy payable) = $304.05 (amount waived)
You can view the levy rates for the following sectors: