Parent Relief is a Singapore income tax relief for supporting a parent, grandparent, parent-in-law or grandparent-in-law living in Singapore: SGD 9,000 per dependant who lives in the same household and SGD 5,500 per dependant who does not. The dependant must be 55 or older with annual income of no more than SGD 8,000; Parent Relief (Disability), formerly Handicapped Parent Relief, is SGD 14,000 or SGD 10,000 and has no age or income test.
Key takeaways
- Parent Relief is SGD 9,000 per dependant where the claimant lives with the dependant and SGD 5,500 where not; Parent Relief (Disability) is SGD 14,000 and SGD 10,000. It can be claimed for up to 2 dependants: parents, grandparents, parents-in-law and grandparents-in-law, including step- and adoptive relatives.
- For YA 2026 the dependant must have been 55 or older in 2025, with annual income of no more than SGD 8,000 in 2025 — raised from SGD 4,000 from YA 2025 by Budget 2024. That income includes taxable income, tax-exempt income such as bank interest, dividends and pensions (CPF payouts excepted), and foreign-sourced income whether or not remitted. Neither the age nor the income test applies to Parent Relief (Disability).
- The dependant must have lived in Singapore and either lived with the claimant in the same household, or lived separately with the claimant spending at least SGD 2,000 supporting them in the year. Living in Singapore means residing there permanently with only temporary absences; for a foreign dependant, IRAS generally looks for at least 8 months in the year.
- Where several people support the same dependant and each meets the conditions, the relief is shared in an agreed apportionment, and the Income Tax Act splits it equally if they do not agree. In IRAS’s example, three children supporting their father share SGD 9,000 in total because he lived with one of them, or SGD 5,500 had he lived with none.
- Only Singapore tax residents can claim, and Parent Relief counts towards the SGD 80,000 cap on all personal reliefs in a Year of Assessment. A dependant who is the subject of a Parent Relief claim generally cannot be the subject of certain other reliefs claimed by someone else: where a father has claimed Spouse Relief on the mother, the children cannot claim Parent Relief on her, and the reverse. The one exception IRAS names is Grandparent Caregiver Relief, which a working mother (married, divorced or widowed) who meets its conditions can claim on a dependant who is also the subject of a Parent Relief claim, whether she or a sibling made that claim.
What is Parent Relief?
The relief depends on where the dependant lives and whether the disability version applies.
A dependant in a Singapore nursing home is not treated as living in the same household, so SGD 5,500 can apply. Parent Relief and Parent Relief (Disability) cannot both be claimed on the same dependant.
How much Parent Relief, and what it saves
IRAS’s amounts per dependant, for up to 2 dependants.
| Relief | Living together | Living apart |
|---|---|---|
| Parent Relief | SGD 9,000 | SGD 5,500 |
| Parent Relief (Disability) | SGD 14,000 | SGD 10,000 |
SGD 9,000 of relief on SGD 60,000 of income before the relief
Money Snap’s arithmetic on IRAS’s resident tax rates for YA 2024 onwards: chargeable income falls from SGD 60,000 to SGD 51,000, all within the 7% band, so tax is SGD 630 lower before any rebate. Shared relief saves each sibling tax on their own share only.
Where Parent Relief shows up
Five things people get wrong
- IRAS — Parent Relief / Parent Relief (Disability) — amounts, conditions, sharing and examples
- IRAS — Tax reliefs — residency and the SGD 80,000 cap
- IRAS — Grandparent Caregiver Relief — the one exception
- Singapore Statutes Online — Income Tax Act 1947, s39 — the statutory rule and equal split
- IRAS — Individual income tax rates — the marginal rate in the example
- MOF — Budget 2024 Annex H-1: Tax Changes — the SGD 8,000 income threshold from YA 2025
Official IRAS relief rules and the Income Tax Act, for general information only. Not financial advice.
This page is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice. All figures and worked examples are estimates for illustrative purposes, are subject to change, and do not reflect any individual’s circumstances. Always refer to IRAS and seek independent professional advice before making any financial decisions.