What is CPF?
The Central Provident Fund (CPF) is Singapore's mandatory social security savings scheme. It covers retirement, healthcare, and housing needs. Both employers and employees contribute a portion of the employee's wages each month, and the combined amount is deposited into the employee's CPF accounts.
As an employer, you are responsible for computing the correct contributions, deducting the employee's share from their salary, adding the employer's share, and paying the total to the CPF Board by the last day of the month.
Who contributes?
Singapore Citizens
Full CPF contributions apply from the first month of employment. Both the employer and employee contribute.
Permanent Residents (PRs)
PRs follow graduated contribution rates during their first and second years of permanent residency. After that, full rates apply. Employers and employees may jointly elect to contribute at full rates from the start.
Foreigners
Foreign employees (work permit, S Pass, Employment Pass) are not covered by CPF. No contributions are required.
How contribution rates work
CPF contributions are split into an employer share and an employee share. The total contribution rate — and how it is divided — depends on the employee's age bracket and citizenship status. Rates are published by the CPF Board and updated periodically.
In general, younger employees attract higher total contribution rates, and the rates step down at certain age thresholds. The employer share and employee share also shift: as employees age, the employer portion gradually decreases while the employee portion adjusts as well.
The contributed amounts are allocated across the employee's CPF accounts: the Ordinary Account (OA), the Special Account (SA), or from age 55 the Retirement Account (RA), and the MediSave Account (MA), in proportions that also vary by age. The CPF Board publishes detailed rate tables covering every combination of age bracket, citizenship status, and PR graduation year.
Always verify with CPF Board
Contribution rates are updated by the CPF Board and may change with each Budget. Do not rely on cached or third-party rate tables for filing — always confirm against the current rates published at cpf.gov.sg (opens in a new tab).
Ordinary Wage ceiling and Additional Wage ceiling
CPF contributions are not calculated on unlimited wages. Two ceilings apply:
Ordinary Wage (OW) ceiling
S$8,000
Per month. CPF is computed on monthly wages up to this amount. Any wages above S$8,000 in a given month are not subject to CPF.
Annual salary ceiling
S$102,000
Per year, Ordinary and Additional Wages together. The Additional Wage (AW) ceiling is S$102,000 minus the Ordinary Wages subject to CPF in the year, so Additional Wages such as bonuses attract CPF only up to that amount.
These ceilings are important when paying bonuses or commissions. If an employee's ordinary wages already reach the OW ceiling each month, the remaining headroom for CPF on additional wages is reduced.
Skills Development Levy (SDL)
In addition to CPF, employers must pay the SDL on all employees — including foreign workers. The levy is 0.25% of each employee's gross monthly remuneration, subject to a minimum of S$2 and a maximum of S$11.25.
SDL funds the Skills Development Fund, which finances workforce training and upgrading programmes.
Self-Help Group contributions
Employees who are Singapore Citizens or permanent residents (and, for SINDA, some foreign employees) may also have deductions for Self-Help Group (SHG) funds, based on their ethnicity or religion and their monthly wage. The four funds are CDAC (Chinese Development Assistance Council), SINDA (Singapore Indian Development Association), MBMF (Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund), and ECF (Eurasian Community Fund). These are collected alongside CPF contributions.
Employees may opt out of SHG contributions. As an employer, you deduct and remit these amounts as part of the monthly CPF submission.
Where MassAdmin fits
MassAdmin's HR & Payroll module calculates employee and employer CPF in every pay run from the 2026 rate tables, with the S$8,000 Ordinary Wage ceiling, and adds SDL. You set each permanent resident's PR year. It emails itemised PDF payslips and gives you a CPF contribution summary (CSV). It does not calculate CPF on bonuses, and the rates that start on 1 January 2027 are not in the current release. In this release, check the CPF for anyone who turned 55, 60, 65 or 70 in the past 12 months, and each employee's share, which keeps cents.
You check each line, then submit and pay through CPF EZPay.
30-day free trial · no card
Sources
- Source: CPF Board, How much CPF contributions to pay (updated 7 October 2026). Checked 10 October 2026.
- Source: CPF Board, What is the Ordinary Wage (OW) ceiling? (updated 14 August 2026). Checked 10 October 2026.
- Source: CPF Board, What is the Additional Wage (AW) ceiling? (updated 13 August 2026). Checked 10 October 2026.
- Source: CPF Board, Skills Development Levy (updated 2 July 2026). Checked 10 October 2026.
This guide is for general information only and does not constitute legal or financial advice.
Related
- CPF contribution rates — the 2026 table and the changes from 1 January 2027
- Skills Development Levy (SDL)
- What Singapore payroll software has to handle