CPF by age band
The rule. CPF is payable for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents whose total wages are above SGD 50 a month. Employment Pass, S Pass and Work Permit holders pay no CPF. For total wages above SGD 750, the 2026 rates for citizens and for PRs from their third year are:
| Employee's age | Employer | Employee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 and 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% |
A new rate starts on the first day of the month after the employee's 55th, 60th, 65th or 70th birthday. The total is rounded to the nearest dollar, the employee's share is rounded down, and the employer pays the difference.
How Officaid handles it. Officaid reads the date of birth and the pass type on the employee's profile, picks the age band by the month-after-birthday rule and names it on the payslip, for example "CPF Employee Contribution (55 to 60)". No CPF is charged for Employment Pass or S Pass holders. Employee shares are rounded down and totals to the nearest dollar, exactly as the CPF Board does.
CPF for Permanent Residents in their first two years
The rule. A new PR starts on lower, graduated CPF rates. The first year runs from the date of PR status; the second year starts on the first day of the month after the first anniversary; full rates apply from the third year. For an employee aged 55 and below, the graduated (G/G) rates are 4% employer and 5% employee in the first year, and 9% employer and 15% employee in the second. The employer can apply to the CPF Board for full employer rates (F/G), or the employer and the employee can apply jointly for full rates (F/F).
How Officaid handles it. Enter the PR start date on the employee's profile and Officaid works out the PR year by itself, and the payslip says which one applies, for example "CPF Employee Contribution (PR 1st Year)". The profile also records the CPF rate option: G/G by default, or F/G or F/F when you have applied to the CPF Board. The PR start date is a required field for a PR, so nobody is paid on the wrong year's rates by mistake.
The Ordinary Wage ceiling and Additional Wages
The rule. From 1 Jan 2026, CPF on Ordinary Wages (the month's salary and fixed allowances) stops at the Ordinary Wage ceiling of SGD 8,000 a month. Additional Wages (bonuses and other payments not tied to the month's work) attract CPF up to the Additional Wage ceiling: SGD 102,000 less the Ordinary Wages that were subject to CPF in the year.
How Officaid handles it. Officaid caps CPF at the SGD 8,000 ceiling by itself. A director on SGD 9,500 a month pays CPF on SGD 8,000 only (SGD 1,440 employee, SGD 1,280 employer at age 57). Fixed monthly allowances count as Ordinary Wages; a bonus added to the payslip counts as an Additional Wage, and the CPF EZPay file reports the two separately.
Self-help group funds: CDAC, MBMF, SINDA and ECF
The rule. The employer deducts a small monthly contribution for one self-help group and pays it with CPF:
- CDAC for Chinese employees
- MBMF for Muslim employees, whatever their race, foreign employees included
- SINDA for employees of Indian descent, Employment Pass holders included
- ECF for Eurasian employees
The amount depends on the month's total wages, which are not capped at the Ordinary Wage ceiling. It runs from SGD 0.50 (CDAC, total wages up to SGD 2,000) to SGD 30.00 (SINDA, above SGD 15,000). An employee can opt out by applying to the self-help group.
How Officaid handles it. Officaid picks the fund from the ethnicity and religion on the employee's profile, so a Malay Muslim employee pays MBMF and an Indian Employment Pass holder pays SINDA, then finds the tier from the full month's wages. The deduction appears on the payslip as, for example, "CDAC Contribution", and goes into the CPF EZPay file under its own fund.
Skills Development Levy (SDL)
The rule. SDL is 0.25% of each employee's total wages for the month, at least SGD 2 (wages below SGD 800) and at most SGD 11.25 (wages above SGD 4,500). It is paid for every employee working in Singapore, foreigners included, by the employer alone. When you pay it, the company's total is rounded down to the dollar.
How Officaid handles it. Officaid works out SDL to the cent for every employee, foreigners included, and shows it on the payslip under Employer Contributions. The CPF EZPay file and Mark As Paid carry the company total rounded down to the dollar, the figure the CPF Board collects.
What the payslip must show
The rule. Under the Employment Act, employees covered by the Act get an itemised payslip with each payment, or within 3 working days of it. It shows the employer's and the employee's full names, the date of payment, the basic salary, the salary period, allowances, any other additional payments, deductions (such as the employee's CPF), overtime hours and pay, and the net salary. Keep the records for 2 years.
How Officaid handles it. Every Officaid payslip carries the MOM items: company and employee names, the salary period, basic salary, each allowance and additional earning by name, overtime hours and pay when there is overtime, CPF and self-help group deductions, net pay, and the payment date once it is paid. Employer CPF and SDL are shown too, marked as paid by the employer. Download it as a PDF, or email payslips to one employee or to the whole team in one go; each email is logged on the payslip.
A worked payslip
Saltmarsh & Sparrow Coffee Roasters Pte. Ltd. is our fictional demo company. This is its October 2026 payslip for Tan Wei Ling, Finance & Admin Manager: 34 years old and a Permanent Resident since March 2026, so in her first PR year.
| Payslip line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Basic Salary | SGD 5,200.00 |
| Transport allowance | SGD 300.00 |
| Gross Pay | SGD 5,500.00 |
| CPF Employee Contribution (PR 1st Year) | SGD 275.00 |
| CDAC Contribution | SGD 2.00 |
| Total Deductions | SGD 277.00 |
| Net Pay | SGD 5,223.00 |
| Paid by the employer: CPF Employer Contribution (PR 1st Year) | SGD 220.00 |
| Paid by the employer: Skills Development Levy | SGD 11.25 |
How Officaid got there:
- CPF: the transport allowance is a fixed monthly allowance, so CPF is on SGD 5,500. First-year PR rates: 9% in total is SGD 495, of which the employee pays 5%, SGD 275, and the employer SGD 220.
- CDAC: Chinese, total wages between SGD 5,000 and SGD 7,500: SGD 2.00.
- SDL: 0.25% of SGD 5,500 is SGD 13.75, so the SGD 11.25 maximum applies.
The same payroll run, three more employees:
| Employee (sample data) | Total wages | Employee CPF | Employer CPF | Fund | SDL | Net pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adrian Lucas de Rozanne, 57, citizen | SGD 9,500.00 | SGD 1,440.00 (on the SGD 8,000 ceiling) | SGD 1,280.00 | ECF SGD 16.00 | SGD 11.25 | SGD 8,044.00 |
| Rosnah binte Ismadi, 67, citizen | SGD 2,460.00 | SGD 184.00 | SGD 222.00 | MBMF SGD 6.50 | SGD 6.15 | SGD 2,269.50 |
| Rohan Venkatesh Iyengaran, 38, Employment Pass | SGD 8,300.00 | none | none | SINDA SGD 12.00 | SGD 11.25 | SGD 8,288.00 |
From payslip to CPF, the bank and IRAS
- Process payroll. Team → Payroll, tick the employees, Process Selected Payroll. Payslips, CPF, self-help group funds and SDL are worked out together.
- Pay your team. Download a bank file for DBS (DBS Universal File Format) and upload it to your bank, or pay another way; then Mark As Paid, and the salaries are booked in your accounts as expenses.
- Pay CPF. On the Contributions tab, submit CPF, the self-help group funds and SDL to the CPF Board straight from Officaid, or download the CPF EZPay file and upload it at the CPF portal. Due by the 14th of the following month.
- IR8A each year. Team → Tax → Generate From Payslips turns the year's payslips into an IR8A draft for each employee, with salary, allowances, bonus, CPF and self-help group donations on their own lines. Check them, then submit to IRAS from Officaid under the Auto-Inclusion Scheme, by 1 Mar of the following year.
Officaid is a certified One-Stop Payroll Vendor: you submit CPF, IRAS and MOM information from the same place you run payroll. About the One-Stop Payroll Vendor listing →
What changes next year: CPF contribution rates in 2027 →