Singapore CPF Contribution Rates 2026: The Employer's Guide
Every age band, the S$8,000 wage ceiling that completes the phase-in, the Additional Wage formula, and what has already been announced for 2027
Short answer: from 1 January 2026, total CPF is 37% of wages for employees aged 55 and below (17% employer, 20% employee), then steps down with age — 34%, 25%, 16.5% and 12.5%. Contributions apply to Ordinary Wages up to S$8,000/month, the last step of a four-year phase-in, within an annual salary ceiling of S$102,000. CPF covers citizens and permanent residents only; Employment Pass and S Pass holders are outside the scheme entirely. This guide is written by the Aniday team that runs Singapore payroll from our own Singapore-headquartered entity, Aniday Pte. Ltd.
Verified 12 August 2026 against CPF Board sources.
What are the CPF contribution rates from 1 January 2026?
Answer: total CPF is 37% of wages for employees aged 55 and below — 17% from the employer and 20% from the employee. It then falls by age band: 34% above 55–60, 25% above 60–65, 16.5% above 65–70 and 12.5% above 70. The rates below apply to citizens and PRs from the third year of PR status, on monthly wages above S$750.
| Employee age | Total contribution | Employer share | Employee share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 and below | 37% | 17% | 20% |
| Above 55 to 60 | 34% | 16% | 18% |
| Above 60 to 65 | 25% | 12.5% | 12.5% |
| Above 65 to 70 | 16.5% | 9% | 7.5% |
| Above 70 | 12.5% | 7.5% | 5% |
How to read this table. The employer share is a real cost on top of gross salary, so a S$6,000 local hire aged 40 costs the company S$7,020 in CPF-inclusive salary terms before any other statutory item. The employee share is a deduction from gross pay, not an extra cost. Age is assessed at the employee's age during the contribution month, so a birthday that crosses a band boundary changes the rate mid-year — the most common reason a payroll run suddenly disagrees with the finance forecast. Permanent residents in their first two years of PR status contribute at lower graduated rates and only reach the table above from the third year.
What is the Ordinary Wage ceiling in 2026, and is it going up again?
Answer: the Ordinary Wage ceiling is S$8,000 per month from 1 January 2026, and this is the final step of the phased increase announced in 2023. Monthly salary above S$8,000 attracts no further CPF on Ordinary Wages. No additional increase is scheduled, so the series shown below is complete.
| Effective from | Ordinary Wage ceiling | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Before September 2023 | S$6,000/month | Starting point |
| September 2023 | S$6,300/month | Step 1 |
| 2024 | S$6,800/month | Step 2 |
| 2025 | S$7,400/month | Step 3 |
| 1 January 2026 | S$8,000/month | Final step — in force now |
This matters for budgeting more than it looks. Between 2023 and 2026 the maximum employer CPF on Ordinary Wages for an employee aged 55 and below rose from S$1,020 to S$1,360 per month, and every salary band between S$6,000 and S$8,000 became progressively more expensive to employ. From 2026 that drift stops: the ceiling is fixed, so a multi-year headcount plan built on the S$8,000 ceiling no longer needs an annual re-forecast for this particular variable.
How does the annual salary ceiling and the Additional Wage ceiling work?
Answer: the annual salary ceiling is S$102,000 and covers Ordinary and Additional Wages together. The Additional Wage ceiling is what is left over: S$102,000 minus the total Ordinary Wages subject to CPF in that calendar year. It is applied per employer, per calendar year — not per employee across all jobs.
| Employee's monthly salary | OW subject to CPF for the year | Additional Wage ceiling | What that means for the bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| S$5,000 | S$5,000 × 12 = S$60,000 | S$102,000 − S$60,000 = S$42,000 | A bonus attracts CPF up to S$42,000 |
| S$8,000 | S$8,000 × 12 = S$96,000 | S$102,000 − S$96,000 = S$6,000 | Only the first S$6,000 of bonus attracts CPF |
| S$12,000 | Capped at S$8,000 × 12 = S$96,000 | S$102,000 − S$96,000 = S$6,000 | Same S$6,000 — salary above the OW ceiling does not consume more of the annual ceiling |
Two practical consequences. First, bonuses and other Additional Wages do attract CPF, up to the remaining headroom — a bonus-heavy package is not a way around CPF, it simply front-loads the annual ceiling. Second, because the ceiling is applied per employer, an employee who changes jobs mid-year gets a fresh calculation at the new employer, which is why the two payslip histories rarely reconcile into one neat annual figure. If an employee joins or leaves partway through the year, the Ordinary Wages actually subject to CPF at your company — not their full-year salary — drive the formula.
What changes have been announced for 1 January 2027?
Answer: two senior age bands have announced increases that take effect on 1 January 2027 and are not in force today. Above 55–60 rises to 35.5% total (16.5% employer / 19% employee) and above 60–65 rises to 26% total (13% / 13%). No change has been announced for the other bands. Keep applying the 2026 table until 1 January 2027.
| Age band | In force now (1 Jan 2026) | Announced for 1 Jan 2027 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Above 55 to 60 | 34% (ER 16% / EE 18%) | 35.5% (ER 16.5% / EE 19%) | +1.5 percentage points |
| Above 60 to 65 | 25% (ER 12.5% / EE 12.5%) | 26% (ER 13% / EE 13%) | +1 percentage point |
| 55 and below | 37% | No change announced | — |
| Above 65 to 70 | 16.5% | No change announced | — |
| Above 70 | 12.5% | No change announced | — |
Treat the 2027 column as a planning input, not a payroll setting. If you employ people in the 55–65 range, the employer cost of that population rises again at the start of 2027, so a 2027 budget built on 2026 rates will understate it. Any payroll configuration change should be dated to take effect on 1 January 2027, never applied early.
Can an employer pay CPF for an Employment Pass or S Pass holder?
Answer: no. CPF applies only to Singapore citizens and permanent residents. An employer cannot contribute for an Employment Pass or S Pass holder — not as a benefit, not on request, and not by agreement in the employment contract. There is no opt-in mechanism, and this is one of the most expensive misunderstandings in Singapore payroll.
The mistake usually arrives in one of two forms. A foreign employee who has worked in a country with a voluntary provident fund asks to "join CPF" for the retirement or housing benefits, and a well-meaning HR team says yes. Or a global payroll template is configured to apply a 17% employer social contribution to every Singapore employee, and nobody separates citizens and PRs from pass holders. Both produce contributions that should never have been made, followed by a refund exercise, corrected filings, and an awkward conversation with the employee about money that has already appeared on their payslip.
The clean rule for cost modelling: a citizen or PR costs gross salary plus the employer CPF share from the table above (up to the wage ceilings) plus the Skills Development Levy. A foreign pass holder costs gross salary plus any applicable levy plus the Skills Development Levy — and no CPF at all. If you are sizing a first Singapore hire, our Singapore Employment Pass guide covers the pass side of that calculation, and the Doing Business in Singapore hub puts both together.
What is the Skills Development Levy, and who is it payable for?
Answer: the Skills Development Levy (SDL) is a small employer-borne levy charged at 0.25% of monthly total wages, with a minimum of S$2 per employee per month, a wage cap of S$4,500 and therefore a maximum of S$11.25 per employee per month. Unlike CPF, it is payable for all employees, including foreigners.
| Monthly wages | SDL payable | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Under S$800 | S$2 | The S$2 monthly minimum applies |
| S$3,000 | S$7.50 | 0.25% of S$3,000 |
| S$4,500 or above | S$11.25 | Capped — the levy is calculated on the first S$4,500 only |
The contrast worth memorising: CPF is never payable for foreign pass holders; SDL always is. Companies that hire mainly foreign talent sometimes conclude they have no monthly statutory obligation beyond salary and levies, and quietly skip SDL for years. The amounts are trivial per head, but the omission is systematic, easy to detect, and turns up in exactly the kind of review a company least wants it to. These figures are the current rates; SDL is described here as current because no 2026-specific change has been confirmed.
Does Singapore have monthly income tax withholding?
Answer: no. Singapore has no monthly income-tax withholding and no PAYE. Employers do not deduct income tax from monthly salary — employees are assessed by IRAS and pay directly. The employer's income-tax obligation is annual reporting, plus one event-based withholding duty when a non-citizen employee leaves.
This single fact separates Singapore payroll from almost every neighbouring market, and it is where generic country guides — and generic payroll software — most often go wrong. A payroll engine configured with a monthly withholding step will deduct tax that should never have been deducted, produce a net pay figure the employee will dispute, and leave the company holding money it has no basis to hold.
The annual cycle: IR8A and the Auto-Inclusion Scheme
Once a year, the employer reports each employee's remuneration for the preceding calendar year on IR8A, or submits the same information electronically through the Auto-Inclusion Scheme (AIS), which pushes the figures straight into the employee's tax return. The deadline is 1 March. Nothing is withheld and nothing is paid to IRAS by the employer in this cycle — it is a reporting obligation, and the work is all in the accuracy of the data your payroll accumulated over twelve months.
The event: IR21 tax clearance for departing non-citizens
IR21 tax clearance is the exception that proves the rule. When a non-citizen employee ceases employment or leaves Singapore, the employer must:
| Step | What the employer does | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Notify IRAS | File the IR21 for the departing non-citizen employee | At least one month before cessation or departure |
| 2. Withhold | Hold monies due to the employee from the point of cessation | From cessation until clearance |
| 3. Release | Pay the withheld balance to the employee once clearance completes | After IRAS clearance |
Note what this is and is not. It is a genuine withholding duty — the only one in ordinary Singapore payroll. It is not monthly: it is triggered by an event, and the trigger is the employee's cessation or departure, not the payroll calendar. The one-month notice requirement is the part that catches employers out, because resignations are frequently processed only when the notice period has already started. If you are running an offboarding for a foreign employee, the IR21 clock and the notice-period clock need to start together. Our payroll outsourcing in Singapore service handles the IR8A cycle and IR21 clearances as part of the monthly run.
Sources
Singapore CPF rates — frequently asked questions
What are the CPF contribution rates in Singapore from 1 January 2026?
37% total for employees aged 55 and below (17% employer / 20% employee), 34% above 55–60 (16% / 18%), 25% above 60–65 (12.5% / 12.5%), 16.5% above 65–70 (9% / 7.5%) and 12.5% above 70 (7.5% / 5%). They apply to citizens and PRs from the third year of PR status, on wages above S$750.
What is the CPF Ordinary Wage ceiling in 2026?
S$8,000 per month from 1 January 2026 — the final step of the phase-in from S$6,000 through S$6,300 (September 2023), S$6,800 (2024) and S$7,400 (2025). No further increase is scheduled, so this variable can be treated as settled for planning purposes.
How do I calculate the Additional Wage ceiling?
Subtract the total Ordinary Wages subject to CPF for the calendar year from the S$102,000 annual salary ceiling. The result is how much of a bonus or other Additional Wage still attracts CPF. The calculation is done per employer, per calendar year.
Are CPF rates going up again in 2027?
For two bands, yes — announced, not yet in force. From 1 January 2027 the above 55–60 band rises to 35.5% (16.5% employer / 19% employee) and above 60–65 to 26% (13% / 13%). Other bands are unchanged. Payroll should keep the 2026 rates until the change date.
Can we contribute CPF for an Employment Pass holder if they ask us to?
No. CPF is limited to citizens and permanent residents, and there is no voluntary route for pass holders. An employee's request does not change this, and contributions made in error have to be unwound. Model foreign hires as salary plus levy plus SDL, with no CPF.
Do we pay the Skills Development Levy for foreign employees?
Yes — SDL is payable for all employees including foreigners, which is the exact opposite of CPF. It is 0.25% of monthly total wages, minimum S$2, on wages up to S$4,500, so the maximum is S$11.25 per employee per month.
Does Singapore deduct income tax from monthly salary?
No. There is no monthly withholding and no PAYE. Employees settle their income tax with IRAS directly, and the employer's duty is the annual IR8A or Auto-Inclusion Scheme submission by 1 March.
When do we have to withhold salary for tax clearance?
Only when a non-citizen employee ceases employment or leaves Singapore. Notify IRAS at least one month before that date, withhold monies due from cessation, and release the balance after clearance. It is event-based, not a monthly deduction.
