SINGAPORE — A total of S$32 million in payouts from the March tranche of the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI) have been denied to 1,300 employers, with 10 cases being referred to the police for investigations.

The amount is part of a total of S$85 million in payouts which have been withheld from 2,600 employers in March for further checks, said the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) in a statement on Monday (May 31).

This comprises about S$52 million in JSS payouts and S$33 million in JGI payouts, Iras said. It added that the move is to ensure that JSS and JGI payouts are fairly and correctly disbursed.

The employers involved would need to submit supporting documents to verify their authenticity and accuracy, Iras said.

“Employers will receive their JSS and JGI payouts once Iras has verified the authenticity and accuracy of the information submitted. Their payouts would be adjusted or denied if issues are found during the review,” it added.

Egregious cases of suspected abuse will be referred to the police, Iras said. 

The authority added that it has so far referred 10 cases of suspected abuse of the JSS to the police.

As of late May, the authority said it has reviewed over 800 JSS and almost 1,100 JGI payouts from the March tranche, with about S$16 million in payouts denied for each scheme.

“This corresponds to over 500 and 800 employers who have had their March 2021 payouts denied for JSS and JGI respectively,” Iras said.

Iras said that it has also received more than 500 reports from whistleblowers on employers suspected to have abused the JSS and JGI schemes.

It added that it has encountered a variety of suspected abuse cases. These include:

• Employers making Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions for non-genuine employees

• Employers inflating CPF contributions for employees without actual wage increases

• Employers maintaining CPF contributions for employees on wage cuts

Any attempts to abuse the schemes may result in severe penalties, said Iras.

Other than having payouts denied, employers may be liable for the offence of cheating, which carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.

Those who wish to report any malpractices or potential abuses may email jssreport [at] iras.gov.sg or jgireport [at] iras.gov.sg, or visit go.gov.sg/jssreport or go.gov.sg/jgireport for the JSS and JGI respectively.