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.

Qualifying for Relief

To claim WMCR in the Year of Assessment (YA) 2016, you must satisfy these conditions in 2015:

You are a working mother who is married, divorced or widowed
You have earned income from employment or through pensions, from trade or business, or through a profession or vocation.
You have a child who is a Singapore Citizen as at 31 Dec 2015 and has satisfied all conditions under the QCR or HCR.

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:

Determining Child Order for WMCR
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).

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 will be 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.

Amount of Relief for WMCR
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

Example

Claiming WMCR on two children

Mrs Tan has two children. In 2015, her first child received income of more than $4,000. She cannot claim child relief on this child. Mr Tan is claiming QCR on their second child. Mrs Tan is eligible to claim WMCR on her second child. Her earned income for 2015 is $100,000. The amount of WMCR that Mrs Tan can claim for YA 2016 is:

Claiming WMCR on two children
Child Order	% of Mrs Tan's earned income [A]	Amount ($) [A] x Mrs Tan's earned income $100,000	WMCR allowable to Mrs Tan ($)	Cumulative WMCR allowable ($) (cumulative percentage of Mrs Tan'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 2015
2nd	20	20,000	20,000	20,000 (20% of her earned income)

Claiming Other Reliefs on the Same Child

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

QCR/ HCR claims will be allowed first. The mother or father can claim.
The total cap, QCR/HCR + WMCR, is $50,000 per child
The WMCR is limited to what is left after the QCR/HCR claim is allowed.

Example

Claiming Parenthood Tax Rebate (PTR) and WMCR

Mr and Mrs Lim's first child was born in 2015. They are both 35 years old when the child was born. Mrs Lim was working and had an earned income of $80,000 for that year.

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

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

Mrs Lim is a Singapore tax resident for the Year of Assessment (YA) 2016 and her tax computation for YA 2016 is as follows:

Example Parenthood Tax Rebate (PTR) and WMCR
Employment Income of Mrs Lim	$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 Lim's Tax Payable for YA 2016
Chargeable Income of Mrs Lim	$47,000
First $40,000	$550
Next $7,000 @ 7%	$490
Gross Tax Payable	$1,040
Less: Parenthood Tax Rebate	$1,040
Net Tax Payable	0

Notes

$550 - Based on the income tax rates for Singapore tax resident for YA 2016.

$1,040 - Both Mr and Mrs Lim are entitled to PTR of $5,000 for their first child born in 2015. 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.

For an example on how to claim WMCR on children for whom your spouse has claimed other child reliefs please go to the IRAS website for more information.