CPF Contribution of Employees and Employers, Rates & More

While most of us know that the Central Provident Fund (CPF) is a mandatory savings scheme, it is sometimes difficult to understand how it works. Employees have it easy – for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs) who are contractually employed, their CPF contributions are made on their behalf by their employers. 

However, if you are an employer and are confused about the specifics of employee/employer CPF contributions, let us break this down for you.

What are Employee and Employer CPF Contributions?

As an employer, every month, you must contribute two portions of money to your employees’ CPF accounts. This includes:  

1. The employee’s contribution; and  
2. The employer’s contribution. 

The amounts you have to contribute depend on factors such as your employees’ wages and their ages (explained below). 

As an employer, you are entitled to recover the employee’s share of the mandatory CPF contributions if your employees are earning more than $500 per month.

All you have to do is deduct the amount from the employee’s wages after making the CPF contributions for that particular month.  

The following infographic summarises which employees employers must make CPF contributions to, as well as for which payments and leaves are CPF contributions applicable. You may click on it to download the image in a new tab.

Must I Pay CPF Contribution for All Employees?

No, you do not have to make CPF contributions for all employees. 

In order to be entitled to CPF contributions, an employee must: 

• Be a Singaporean citizen, or a Singapore PR
• Be employed in Singapore 
• Have signed a contract of service with an employer 
• Not be employed as a master, seaman or an apprentice in any shipping vessel (unless the employment contract does not exempt you from making CPF contributions for that employee)

Does the type of employment matter? 

Yes. In general, employees can receive CPF contributions if they are of the following employment types (and provided that they also fulfil the criteria mentioned above): 

• Full-time employees
• Part-time employees earning total wages of more than $50/month
• Temporary/casual employees earning total wages of more than $50/month

This is even if the employee has more than one employer, or is your family member. 

Whom do I not have to pay CPF for?

You do not have to pay CPF for the following groups of people: 

• Foreign employees (Holders of an Employment Pass, S pass, Miscellaneous Work Pass or Work Permit)
• Singaporean/Singaporean PRs who are posted overseas (but you may voluntarily pay CPF for them nevertheless)
• Registered Partners of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or Limited Partnership (LP) (unless engaged under an employment contract within the partnership)

What Payments/Leave Do and Do Not Attract Employee CPF Contribution? 

In general, you will have to make CPF contributions to your employees’ CPF accounts for the following types of payments: 

• Basic salary
• Overtime pay (only for workmen and employees whose basic salary per month does not exceed $4,500 and $2,600, respectively)
• Cash incentives: 
  • Payments for good work and attendance
  • Long Service Awards
  • Productivity Awards
• Allowances: 
  • Meal expenses
  • Education-related expenses for your employees’ children
  • Transport expenses
  • Cash gifts given to employees during festive seasons etc.
• Bonuses 
• Commissions (payments that are based on the percentage of sales achieved)
• Annual Leave Pay (payments made in lieu of leave)

There are also certain payments that do not attract employee CPF contributions, such as the following: 

• Reimbursements for:
  • Expenses your employee incurs on behalf of your company
  • Courses that are part of your employee’s training programme
  • Money spent on entertaining your company’s clients etc. 
• Gifts: 
  • Small tokens
  • Gifts to congratulate employees on their marriage or to commemorate the birth of their children
• Compensation:
  • Compensation for injuries approved under the Work Injury Compensation Act
• Termination benefits: 
  • Retirement gratuity 
  • Retrenchment pay
  • Severance pay
  • Compensation for loss of employment etc.

What are the Employee CPF Contribution Rates? 

“CPF contribution rate” refers to the method used to calculate the CPF contribution you should be making for your employees.

Your employees will have different CPF contribution rates, depending on their: 

• Citizenship status (Singapore citizen, PR for 3 years and above, or PR for 2 years and below)
• Age group 
• Total wages for the month (sum of Ordinary Wages and Additional Wages)
• Sector (i.e. private or public sector)

Ordinary and Additional Wages

Ordinary Wages (OW) refer to the wages an employee has earned through their employment in 1 month. An example of this is the monthly salary you pay to your employees. 

Additional Wages (AW) refer to wages which are either: 

• Not granted wholly/exclusively for the month; or
• Made at intervals of more than a month 

Examples of AW include annual bonuses and leave pay. 

CPF contribution ceilings

OW and AW are important as they both have “ceilings” that limit the amount of CPF contribution that your employee can receive. 

OW ceiling 

The OW ceiling is capped at $8,000. This means that if an employee’s monthly salary is $8,500, his/her monthly CPF contribution will only be calculated based on an OW of $8,000. You will not need to pay a CPF contribution on the remaining $500. 

AW ceiling 

The AW ceiling can be found by using the following equation:

 $102,000 – Total OW for the year

This means that if an employee’s monthly salary is $5,000, his/her AW ceiling will be: 

$102,000 – ($5,000 x 12) = $42,000. 

So if you happen to give this particular employee a $45,000 bonus, his/her CPF contribution will only be calculated based on an AW of $42,000. You will not have to pay a CPF contribution on the remaining $3,000.

Calculating CPF contributions

CPF contribution rates can be calculated according to the table below: 

Employee’s age	Contribution Rates from 1 January 2026 Based on % (for monthly wages ≥ $750)
	By employer	By employee	Total
55 and below	17	20	37
Above 55 to 60	16	18	34
Above 60 to 65	12.5	12.5	25
About 65 to 70	9	7.5	16.5
Above 70	7.5	5	12.5

Since it may be difficult to manually calculate the CPF contributions of employees who vary in age and have different monthly salaries, the CPF Board has created an online CPF contribution calculator. 

All you have to do is key in the necessary information, such as each employee’s birthday, and the OW and AW each employee has received for that particular month, and the calculator will compute how much you will have to contribute to your employee’s CPF account. 

How to Pay Employee CPF Contributions 

You can pay employee CPF contributions online, via CPF EZPay. 

In order to use CPF EZPay, you will need: 

• A SingPass/CorpPass account
• A CPF Submission Number (CSN) for your transactions with the CPF Board

Once you have access to CPF EZPay, you will need the following details regarding your employees in order to pay their CPF contributions: 

• CPF Account Numbers
• Full names
• OW and AW  
• Date of Birth
• Citizenship Status (Singaporean, or Singapore PR)

After you key in the details listed above, the system will automatically calculate the CPF contributions that you will have to make for each employee, based on their wages, citizenship status and ages. You can then make the payments via Direct Debit or eNETS.

When Must I Pay My Employee CPF Contributions? 

You must pay your employees’ CPF contributions at the end of every month. If you have forgotten to pay the contributions, don’t worry – you have a 2-week grace period after the deadline to do so.

For example, if you forgot to pay the contributions on the 31st of January, you will have up till 14th February to pay the contribution. If the 14th of February happens to fall on a weekend or public holiday, you can pay by the next working day.

If you have yet to pay your employees’ CPF contributions after this grace period has ended, you will have to pay a late payment interest of 18% per annum (1.5% per month) starting from the first day of the following month. Following the example provided above, you will have to start paying interest from 1st March onwards.

What Happens If I Paid My Employee Incorrectly? 

Before you begin any of the below-mentioned procedures, please note that: 

• The refund or adjustment must be applied within 1 year from the date of payment.
• You must have notified all affected employees about the refund or adjustment.
• The adjustment or refund is subject to the availability of funds in the employee’s CPF account.

Accidentally submitting CPF contributions twice

If you have accidentally paid CPF contributions twice in the same month, you can apply for a full refund of the extra submission online. Before you do so, you must inform all affected employees that you will be applying for a refund. 

Over-contribution to your employees’ CPF accounts

If you have over-contributed for your employees, you can similarly apply for a refund of the excess contribution online. 

Do note that from February 2024, any CPF contributions paid in excess of the CPF Annual Limit will be automatically refunded. Notifications will be sent after the refund is processed. However, it is recommended that you do not wait for the annual automatic refund. If you have paid excess CPF contributions above the CPF Annual Limit, you should apply for a refund promptly.

Underpayment/Omission of CPF contributions 

If you have underpaid/omitted to pay employees’ CPF contributions, you can pay the difference via ‘Submit ad hoc CPF payments’ in CPF EZPay. Make sure you do this before the 14-day grace period is up, or you will have to pay the late payment interest as mentioned previously.

Accidentally indicating the wrong details 

If you have accidentally indicated the wrong details when making a CPF submission, such as by indicating the wrong month or CPF Submission Number, you can amend or delete your submission via CPF EZPay. 

What Happens If I Fail to Pay/Underpaid Employee CPF Contributions?

If you fail to pay or underpaid employee CPF contributions, there is a chance that your employees may report you to the authorities.

If you are a first-time offender who is found guilty of failing to pay or underpaying employee CPF contributions, you can face a fine of up to $5,000, and/or an imprisonment term of up to 6 months. 

Repeat offenders will face harsher penalties – you could be fined up to $10,000 and/or face an imprisonment term of up to 12 months.

Alternatively, if you have deducted your employees’ share of CPF contributions but fail to pay the same amount to the CPF Board, you can be fined up to $10,000 and/or face an imprisonment term of up to 7 years. 

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CPF is an incredibly important scheme that helps provide Singaporeans and Singapore PRs with a sense of security, as these savings come in handy for many things, from health crises to ensuring a peaceful retirement. As an employer, it is your duty to ensure that your employees receive the necessary CPF contributions every month. 

CPF law can be technical, and errors can attract financial penalties. To navigate the CPF regime with clarity and confidence, we suggest that you seek legal advice from an employment lawyer if you have any further questions or if you would like to better understand your obligations regarding CPF contributions.