The Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB) has a strong obligation for the employer to pay the total CPF contributions which includes both the employer’s share and the employee’s share. This periodic system has been designed to follow every calendar month for Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents (SPR) who earn wages more than SGD50/ month. Employers then deduct the employee’s share of the contribution from their monthly salaries and ensure adherence to compliance.
The due date for the employer to complete these contributions has been determined as the last day of each month and extension until the 14th of the following month is provided to make the payments. As per the recent insights the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board and Housing Board will sustain the assurance on CPF savings with a 4% floor rate. Whereas the special, MediSave and retirement account (SMRA) interest rate has been decided to increase to 4.14% in the fourth quarter from earlier 4.08% in the third quarter.
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Importance Of CPF Contribution In Singapore
CPF contribution for an employer and employee is an obligation and not an option failing to which you could land in legal trouble and sometimes barring from working. Understand below the four different and important components;
Also Read: How to Check Your Foreign Worker Levy Status
An employee’s CPF account holds 4 different section, mentioned below;
- Ordinary Account: For retirement, insurance, housing, and investment.
- MediSave Account: For hospitalisation expenses and allotted medical insurance.
- Special Account: Limited to the old age and investments in financial products concerned with retirement.
- Retirement Account: Only for monthly retirement payouts of people aged 55 years old and above.
Employers can easily submit the contributions via the CPOF website using SingPass or CorpPass. Payments can be completed by using direct debit, eNETS, Standing Instructions, Cheques or AXS Stations. You must ensure that you have the CPF PAL file, in a .txt file format containing details of the contribution data. In case of any unavoidable skip, employers can make use of the payable dates to classify wages as per the format.
Singapore CPF Limits 2025
The CPF Contribution for all Singaporeans is obligatory and is subject to ceilings. With the beginning of 2025, the ordinary wage ceiling has been set around $6,800. Which implies that the employees who earn above these limits will be terminated from the CPF. To ensure smoother rates the additional wage ceiling is evaluated and revised every year.
Know the contributions for the employee and employer and the varying CPF rates as mentioned below;
| Age | Employer’s Contribution | Employees Contribution | Total |
| Up to 55 years | 17% | 20% | 37% |
| 55 to 60 years | 15% | 16% | 31% |
| 60 to 65 years | 11.50% | 10.50% | 22% |
| 65 to 70 years | 9% | 7.50% | 16.50% |
| Above 70 years | 7.50% | 5% | 12.50% |
Below the sections/categories are detailed;
Singaporeans or Singapore Permanent Residents (third year onwards)
This section concerns the share of CPF contributions from employers and employees for Singaporean employees and SPR who have worked in the country for three or more years.
| Employee Age Group (Years) | Employee’s Total Wages | Employer CPF Contributions | Employee’s CPF Contributions |
| Below 55 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 17% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 17% | 0.6 (TW – SGD 500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 17% (Max. of SGD 1,250) | 20% (Max. of SGD 1,250) | |
| 55 – 60 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 15.50% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 16% | 0.51 (TW – SGD 500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 15.5% (Max. of SGD 1,147) | 17% (Max. of SGD 1,258) | |
| 60 – 65 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 12% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 12% | 0.345 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 12% (Max. of SGD 888) | 11.5% (Max.of SGD 851) | |
| 65 -70 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 9% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 9% | 0.225 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 9% (Max. of SGD 666) | 7.5% (Max.of SGD 555) | |
| Above 70 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 7.50% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 7.50% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 7.5% (Max. of SGD 555) | 5% (Max.of SGD 370) |
First Year Of SPR Status Under Graduated
This section concerns the contributions from employers and employees for those who have received full SPR status for one year and are employed by non-full employers. Which implies this category is of the non full-time employees including part-time or casual workers.
| Employee Age Group (Years) | Employee’s Total Wages | Employer CPF Contributions | Employee’s CPF Contributions |
| Below 55 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 4% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 4% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 4% (Max. of SGD 296) | 5% (Max. of SGD 370) | |
| 55 – 60 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 4.00% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 4% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 4% (Max. of SGD 296) | 5% (Max. of SGD 370) | |
| 60 – 65 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 4% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 4% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 3.5% (Max. of SGD 259) | 5% (Max. of SGD 370) | |
| 65 -70 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 4% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 4% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 3.5% (Max. of SGD 259) | 5% (Max. of SGD 370) |
First year of SPR status under Full Employer & Graduated Employee
This section is for the contributions from employers and employees who have received complete SPR status for one year and are employed by full employers. Which implies that they have been working full-time with their employers.
| Employee Age Group (Years) | Employee’s Total Wages | Employer CPF Contributions | Employee’s CPF Contributions |
| Below 55 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 17% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 17% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 17% (Max. of SGD 1,258) | 5% (Max. of SGD 370) | |
| 55 – 60 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 15.50% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 16% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 15.5% (Max. of SGD 1,147) | 5% (Max. of SGD 370) | |
| 60 – 65 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 12% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 12% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 12% (Max. of SGD 888) | 5% (Max. of SGD 370) | |
| 65 – 70 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 9% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 9% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 9% (Max. of SGD 666) | 5% (Max. of SGD 370) | |
| Above 70 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 7.50% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 7.50% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 7.5% (Max. of SGD 555) | 5% (Max. of SGD 370) |
Second year of SPR status under Full Employer & Graduated Employee
This section is for the contributions from employers and employees who have received full SPR status for two years and are employed by full employers. Which implies that they have been working full-time with their employers.
| Employee Age Group (Years) | Employee’s Total Wages | Employer CPF Contributions | Employee’s CPF Contributions |
| Below 55 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 17% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 17% | 0.45 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 17% (Max. of SGD 1,258) | 15% (Max. of SGD 1,110) | |
| 55 – 60 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 15.50% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 15.50% | 0.375 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 15.5% (Max. of SGD 1,147) | 12.5% (Max. of SGD 1,110) | |
| 60 – 65 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 12% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 12% | 0.225 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 12% (Max. of SGD 888) | 7.5% (Max. of SGD 1,110) | |
| 65 – 70 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 9% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 9% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 9% (Max. of SGD 666) | 5% (Max. of SGD 1,110) | |
| Above 70 | SGD 50 – SGD 500 | 7.50% | – |
| SGD 500 – SGD 750 | 7.50% | 0.15 (TW – $500) | |
| SGD 750 & above | 7.5% (Max. of SGD 555) | 5% Max. of SGD 1,110) |
Conclusion
The CPF scheme in Singapore provides higher interest rates relative to any other bank. The current rates are 3.5% for the Ordinary Account and 5% for the Special Account holders. The risk factor related to this obligatory investment is also minimum as compared to other such programs. You must also understand that the CPF contribution rate or share for the permanent resident is different from that of the citizens.
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