Singapore · Payroll · CPF
CPF Contribution Rates 2026 (Singapore)
The Central Provident Fund (CPF) is Singapore's compulsory retirement, healthcare and housing savings scheme, administered by the CPF Board. If you employ Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents, you add an employer share on top of their wages and deduct an employee share from their pay every month — the exact rates depend on the employee's age, and the current 2026 figures are read live from statutory data below. CPF is only part of the monthly bill: most employers also owe the Skills Development Levy on the same payroll.
Effective 1 January 2026 · rates read live from statutory data
For most Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents aged 55 and below, total CPF is 37% of wages — 17% from the employer and 20% from the employee. Rates step down with age. The Ordinary Wage ceiling is $8,000 a month; the Additional Wage ceiling is $102,000 a year.
Rates by age (Singapore Citizens & PRs)
These are the full contribution rates for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents from their third year, on monthly wages above $750. CPF is split into an employer share and an employee share, both shown as a percentage of wages.
| Employee age | Employer | Employee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 & below | 17% | 20% | 37% |
| Above 55 to 60 | 16% | 18% | 34% |
| Above 60 to 65 | 12.5% | 12.5% | 25% |
| Above 65 to 70 | 9% | 7.5% | 16.5% |
| Above 70 | 7.5% | 5% | 12.5% |
Wage ceilings
CPF is only payable up to two limits. The Ordinary Wage ceiling is $8,000 a month — monthly salary above this does not attract CPF. The Additional Wage ceiling is $102,000 a year, less the Ordinary Wages already subject to CPF, and applies to bonuses and other one-off payments.
What CPF actually is
CPF is not a tax. Every dollar contributed lands in the employee's own CPF accounts — Ordinary, Special and MediSave — and stays theirs, earning government-guaranteed interest. Your job as the employer is to compute both shares, deduct the employee's portion from their salary, add your own portion on top, and remit the combined amount to the CPF Board each month.
That split matters for budgeting. The employee share comes out of the salary you already agreed; the employer share is an extra cost on top of it. When you quote someone a monthly wage, your real monthly outlay is that wage plus the employer CPF on it — so factor the employer share into every offer before you make it.
Who has to pay CPF
You pay CPF for every employee who is a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident and earns more than $50 a month. Full-time, part-time, temporary or on probation — if there is an employment relationship and the person is a Citizen or PR, CPF applies.
Foreign employees are the exception. Work Permit, S Pass and Employment Pass holders are not covered by CPF at all; for them you owe the Skills Development Levy and, for work-pass holders, the Foreign Worker Levy set by the Ministry of Manpower instead. This is the mirror image of the SDL rule, where you pay for everyone including foreigners — so it is worth keeping the two straight.
Company directors are caught too. A director who draws a salary under a service contract attracts CPF like any other employee; director's fees voted at an AGM are not wages and carry none.
Why the rates step down with age
The contribution rate in the table above falls as employees move into older age bands. This is deliberate policy, not an error: lower rates for older workers cut the cost of keeping them on the payroll, which the scheme uses to nudge employers into retaining and re-hiring mature staff. The youngest band carries the full rate; each older band shaves the combined contribution down, with the steepest cuts at the oldest ages.
Get an employee's birthday wrong in payroll and their CPF is wrong that month.
Good payroll software applies the correct band automatically from the date of birth. Compute CPF by hand and a birthday is exactly the kind of quiet event that breaks a manual rate.
Permanent Residents pay graduated rates first
A new Permanent Resident does not jump straight to the full rates above. For the first two years of PR status, both shares are charged at lower, graduated rates that ramp up year by year; from the third year onward the PR moves onto the full Citizen rates the table describes. The CPF Board publishes the graduated tables for each PR year.
There is one option worth knowing. The employer and employee can jointly apply to pay full rates earlier, from the first or second year. Some employees prefer it because more of their pay is saved sooner — but it raises your employer cost immediately, so treat it as a joint decision, not a default.
The two wage ceilings, explained
CPF is not charged on unlimited pay. Two separate ceilings cap how much of an employee's earnings attract contributions, and they work differently.
The Ordinary Wage ceiling applies to monthly salary: up to the monthly limit shown above, salary attracts CPF; anything earned above it in that month does not. The Additional Wage ceiling applies to one-off payments such as bonuses and commissions, and it is an annual cap reduced by the Ordinary Wages already subject to CPF that year. In plain terms — the more an employee earns in regular monthly salary, the less of their bonus is still CPF-liable.
The Additional Wage ceiling is where employers most often slip. It is easy to deduct CPF on a full year-end bonus without checking how much annual headroom is left, and over-contributing is as much a reconciliation problem as under-contributing. Before you run a year-end bonus, check each employee's remaining Additional Wage room first.
When CPF is due
CPF contributions are due at the end of each month and must reach the CPF Board by the 14th of the following month — the same deadline as the Skills Development Levy, and the two are usually submitted together through CPF EZPay. Miss it and the Board charges late-payment interest and can take enforcement action.
The 14th is a hard date to build your payroll calendar around, not a soft target.
Before each pay run, confirm that CPF is switched on for every Citizen and PR on the payroll, that each person's age band and PR year are current, and that any bonus has been checked against the Additional Wage ceiling. Get those three right and your monthly submission reconciles cleanly.
Last reviewed 2 June 2026 · Rates read live from CPF Board statutory data.
Work out a specific figure
Enter an age, residency and wage to see the exact employer and employee CPF for 2026. Open the CPF calculator →
Frequently asked questions
- Who has to pay CPF?
- Employers must pay CPF for every employee who is a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident earning more than $50 a month. Foreign employees on work passes are not covered by CPF.
- What is the CPF contribution rate for 2026?
- CPF rates are banded by the employee’s age. The full employer and employee shares for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (from their third year) are listed in the rates table above, and they step down for older age bands. Foreign employees on work passes pay no CPF.
- What are the Ordinary and Additional Wage ceilings?
- The Ordinary Wage ceiling caps the monthly salary that attracts CPF; the Additional Wage ceiling caps CPF-liable bonuses over a year, less the Ordinary Wages already contributed. Both current figures are shown in the rates section above — salary or bonus above the ceiling does not attract CPF.
- Do Permanent Residents pay the same CPF rate?
- PRs pay graduated (lower) rates in their first and second year of PR status, then move to the full rates shown here from their third year. Employer and employee can jointly apply to pay full rates earlier.
- When are CPF contributions due?
- CPF contributions are due at the end of the month and must be paid by the 14th of the following month. Late payment attracts interest and enforcement action from the CPF Board.
Related guides
Source: CPF Board contribution rates. AcctTen calculates CPF automatically for Singapore payroll. This page is general information, not financial or legal advice.