CPF contribution rates for employers in 2026: rates, ceilings, SDL and how to pay

You pay CPF for employees who are Singapore citizens or permanent residents and earn total wages of more than S$50 a month. Foreign employees on work passes don't pay CPF, but you still pay the Skills Development Levy for them.

PRs in their first and second year pay lower, graduated rates. If the employee and you apply jointly and CPF Board approves, they pay the full rates below, the same as citizens and PRs from their third year.

For Singapore citizens and PRs from their third year, these percentages apply to ordinary wages up to the S$8,000 ceiling, plus additional wages such as a bonus within the yearly limit.

The new rates start on the first day of the month after the month of the employee's 55th, 60th, 65th or 70th birthday. Someone who turns 55 in March stays on the '55 and below' rates for March and moves to 'above 55 to 60' from April's wages.

Up to S$500 a month only you pay. Between S$500 and S$750 the employee's share is phased in. TW below means the month's total wages.

A 30-year-old part-timer earns S$600 in a month. Total CPF is 17% × 600 = S$102, plus 0.6 × (600 − 500) = S$60, so S$162. The employee pays S$60 from their pay and you pay S$102.

Ordinary wages are paid for the employee's work in that month and payable by the 14th of the following month, such as the monthly salary. Only the first S$8,000 of them attracts CPF each month from 1 January 2026, which caps each month's CPF on ordinary wages:

Additional wages are everything else, such as an annual performance bonus. Their ceiling is S$102,000 less the total ordinary wages subject to CPF for the year, per employee and per employer. A manager on S$9,000 a month has S$96,000 of ordinary wages subject to CPF over the year (S$8,000 × 12), so only S$6,000 of a S$10,000 year-end bonus attracts CPF.

Some payments aren't wages for CPF: reimbursements of what an employee spent for work, such as office stationery; termination benefits such as a retrenchment benefit; and benefits in kind such as a commemorative watch.

Round the total contribution to the nearest dollar (drop anything under 50 cents, and count 50 cents or more as a dollar), round the employee's share down to the dollar, and you pay the difference.

Take an employee aged 40 earning S$3,450. The total at 37% is S$1,276.50, which rounds to S$1,277. The employee's 20% is S$690. You pay the rest, S$587, a little more than 17% (S$586.50), because the rounding falls on the employer.

CPF Board has announced higher rates for employees aged above 55 to 65, for wages earned from 1 January 2027. The other age bands don't change. The increase goes to the employee's Retirement Account until they've set aside their Full Retirement Sum, and to their Ordinary Account after that.

SDL is a compulsory levy for every employee working in Singapore, foreign employees included. It's 0.25% of each employee's total wages for the month, at least S$2 for someone earning less than S$800 and at most S$11.25 for someone earning more than S$4,500. Add up every employee's levy and round the total down to the dollar.

For example, S$2,400 a month gives S$6. A part-timer on S$600 still costs the S$2 minimum, and someone on S$6,000 costs the S$11.25 maximum. You pay SDL with your CPF. CPF EZPay works it out for citizen and PR employees, but you enter it yourself for foreign employees. An employer with only foreign employees pays SDL separately; CPF Board's SDL page explains how.

Self-help group funds are deducted from the employee's pay, not paid by you, and you can pay them to CPF Board with your CPF. The fund follows the race on the employee's NRIC (the first race if two are listed), and MBMF follows religion:

Contributions for a month's wages are due by the end of that month, and CPF Board takes enforcement action if they aren't paid by the 14th of the following month (the next working day if the 14th is a weekend or public holiday). Late payment interest is 1.5% a month, counted from the day after the due date, with a minimum of S$5. Paying on the same day each month, a few days before the 14th, keeps you clear.

Payroll with CPF comes with Business. Add each person's date of birth and CPF status (citizen, PR in their first, second or later year, on graduated or full rates, or foreign) and the app picks the rates for the month being paid, moves them to the next age band at the right month and rounds the CPF Board way. Ordinary and additional wages are kept apart, with the S$8,000 monthly ceiling and the yearly additional wage ceiling applied.

SDL is worked out for every employee, and CDAC, ECF, MBMF or SINDA for citizens and PRs by the fund you set; for a foreign employee who gives to MBMF or SINDA, add it as a deduction. Each pay run ends with a For CPF EZPay summary of what to key in. No NRIC or FIN is kept: you type those into CPF EZPay yourself.