How much tax can our child reliefs save this year?

Who is this for?

Singapore tax-resident parents filing for the 2026 income year (YA2027): working mothers, fathers and single parents. The child rules were last read for YA2026 and IRAS lists no change for YA2027.

What are the steps?

1. Say who is claiming: the mother or the father.
2. Enter the claimant’s yearly earned income and the number of children, and how many were born or adopted from 1 January 2024.
3. Choose whether to include QCR, and add any parents or grandparents you support for Parent Relief.
4. If the mother is claiming and a grandparent cares for your child, include Grandparent Caregiver Relief.
5. Read the reliefs, the estimated tax saved and the Parenthood Tax Rebate, then file through IRAS. IRAS’s assessment is final.

Who can claim which relief?

Qualifying Child Relief (QCR)

Mother or father, S$4,000 a child, can be split on an agreed basis

Child relief (disability)

Mother or father, S$7,500 a child instead of QCR

Parent relief

Anyone supporting a parent or grandparent aged 55 or over: S$9,000 living with you, S$5,500 apart, up to 2 dependants

Working Mother’s Child Relief (WMCR)

Working mothers who are married, divorced or widowed

Grandparent Caregiver Relief

Working mothers who are married, divorced or widowed: S$3,000

Parenthood Tax Rebate

Parents who are married, divorced or widowed; can be shared between spouses

Fathers claim QCR (or Child Relief (Disability)) and Parent Relief, and can share the Parenthood Tax Rebate. IRAS’s QCR page covers a child born to you and your spouse or ex-spouse, a step-child or a legally adopted child. It does not say how a parent who has never married claims, so ask IRAS. Anyone can claim Parent Relief, and IRAS says single taxpayers cannot claim Grandparent Caregiver Relief.

How much is each relief worth?

WMCR, children born or adopted from 1 January 2024

S$8,000 first, S$10,000 second, S$12,000 third and later

WMCR, children born before 2024

15%, 20% and 25% of earned income

Qualifying Child Relief (QCR)

S$4,000 per child

Grandparent Caregiver Relief

S$3,000

Parenthood Tax Rebate

S$5,000 first, S$10,000 second, S$20,000 third and later

Child order counts every child in the family by date of birth, including older children born before 2024. So a 2024 baby after a first child born earlier is the second child, at S$10,000.

Grandparent Caregiver Relief needs a caregiver who is a parent or grandparent of the mother or her husband, lives in Singapore and earns S$8,000 or less from work. The child must be a Singapore citizen aged 12 or below. QCR needs a child earning S$8,000 or less.

How much does a S$80,000 earner save?

Two children: the first born before 2024, the second in 2024 or later. A grandparent looks after them and lives with the family.

If the mother claims every relief shown. IRAS lets a working mother claim Parent Relief and Grandparent Caregiver Relief on the same grandparent:

WMCR, first child (15% of earned income)

S$12,000

QCR, first child

S$4,000

WMCR, second child (fixed)

S$10,000

QCR, second child

S$4,000

Grandparent Caregiver Relief

S$3,000

Parent Relief, grandparent living with you

S$9,000

Total reliefs

S$42,000

Estimated tax saved

S$2,870

Parenthood Tax Rebate across both children

S$15,000

If the father claims instead, on the same S$80,000, he takes QCR for both children (S$8,000) and Parent Relief for the grandparent living with them (S$9,000): S$17,000 of reliefs and about S$1,190 less tax. The rebate is the same S$15,000 and can be shared between the two of you.

The rebate is given once per child, in the year of assessment after the birth, so it may already be used for an older child. Open the Parent tax relief stacker to try your own numbers.

Which caps can cut your reliefs?

• QCR is allowed first. QCR plus WMCR is capped at S$50,000 per child.
• Total WMCR for all children is capped at 100% of the mother’s earned income.
• All personal reliefs together are capped at S$80,000 a year. That includes reliefs the tool leaves out, such as earned income, CPF and SRS reliefs, so a real return can hit the cap sooner.

Why might IRAS’s figure be different?

The estimate assumes the claimant is a tax resident, claims every relief shown that IRAS allows them, and has no other reliefs. Other reliefs lower taxable income and can change the tax rate, so the real saving can be smaller or larger. Parents can split QCR and the rebate between them; the household total stays similar but each return changes.

The Parenthood Tax Rebate offsets future tax. Unused rebate carries forward and it is never paid out in cash. For the final figure, use your IRAS notice of assessment.

If you are budgeting for childcare as well, print the Infant and childcare subsidy worksheet. Then see how the tax saved could grow in the Education savings guide.