Employers in Singapore pay CPF contributions for every employee who is a citizen or permanent resident, at rates that depend on age and residency status. Foreign work pass holders are outside CPF. You also pay the Skills Development Levy, issue pay slips and report annual income to IRAS.
The Central Provident Fund is a mandatory savings scheme for Singapore citizens and permanent residents. Employers pay their own contribution and deduct the employee share from wages, then pay both to CPF Board. Foreigners on Employment Passes, S Passes or Work Permits do not contribute to CPF.
Permanent residents move to full rates over time. In the early years of PR status graduated rates apply, and the schedule is published by CPF Board. An employee who changes from foreigner to PR therefore changes your payroll mid-year, which is a common source of under-payment.
A director paid a salary through the company payroll is an employee for CPF purposes if they are a citizen or PR. Sole proprietors and partners follow different rules, with self-employed contributions limited to MediSave.
Check the status field for every new hire before the first payroll. A hire who says they are a permanent resident should show the identity card, because applying the wrong rate produces a correction for both the employee and the employer.
Contribution rates depend on the employee's age band and residency status, and they apply to ordinary wages, which are paid for work in the month, and additional wages, such as bonuses. CPF Board publishes the tables, along with the monthly ordinary wage ceiling and the annual limit on additional wages.
The contribution is split into the Ordinary, Special and MediSave accounts according to age. You do not allocate it yourself, but you do need the correct total and the correct employer and employee shares on the submission.
Do the calculation from the tables for the year in force. Rates change, and an employee who passes an age threshold changes band from the following month. Many payroll errors come from forgetting that age change.
Report wages accurately. Under-declaring salary to reduce contributions is an offence, and CPF Board audits can reach back several years.
CPF contributions are submitted and paid for each month through CPF Board's e-services, with the deadline set in the following month. Contributions paid late attract interest, and persistent lateness can lead to enforcement action against the employer and its directors.
The submission file lists each employee by identification number, with wages and contribution amounts. Payment is made by methods that CPF Board lists, such as GIRO or electronic transfer. Reconcile the amount paid with the payroll register before sending it, because an incorrect submission is harder to correct than to prepare again.
In addition to CPF, employers pay the Skills Development Levy on remuneration for every employee, including foreigners. It is paid to CPF Board with the contribution, and the base and rates are set out on the CPF Board website.
Keep a monthly payroll file: gross pay, deductions, employer cost, CPF split, SDL and net pay, signed off by a second person.
Employees covered by the Employment Act must receive itemised pay slips, showing gross pay, deductions, additional payments and net pay. Provide them within the time stated in the Act. A clear pay slip is the first document an employee shows a bank or a landlord.
Singapore also requires written key employment terms for covered employees, issued within a short period after the start date. They include salary, working hours, leave and notice period. Keep a signed copy.
Leave and notice conditions influence payroll too. Unused annual leave payments on termination, overtime for eligible staff and pro-rated salary in a month of joining or leaving all need documented rules.
Salary must be paid within seven days after the end of the salary period for employees covered by the Employment Act. A payroll calendar that works back from that date, allowing for the bank approval step, avoids a late payment that employees notice immediately.
Employers report each employee's annual employment income to IRAS, using Form IR8A and related forms. Many employers file through the Auto-Inclusion Scheme, which transmits data directly, and the filing is due in early March for the previous calendar year. Check the exact date and scheme coverage on the IRAS website.
The income reported includes salary, bonuses, allowances, benefits in kind and director's fees. Employees use it to complete their personal returns, so an inconsistent figure creates queries for the employee as well as for the company.
When a foreign employee is leaving Singapore, the employer must notify IRAS and withhold money for tax clearance, using Form IR21, before the last day. Missing this can make the company liable for the employee's tax.
Bonuses are reported in the year they are paid, not the year they are earned, so a December-earned bonus paid in January belongs to the next IR8A. Mark the payment date in the payroll register.
Keep payroll records, contracts, leave records and CPF submissions for at least five years. Store them where the finance team and the HR team can both find them, since MOM, CPF Board and IRAS may ask for different subsets.
4softhr.net keeps employee records, leave and timesheets in one place. It does not calculate payroll or CPF contributions for Singapore, because payroll calculation is available for Romania only. It also does not produce CPF submission files, pay slips, IR8A or IR21 forms. Use CPF Board and IRAS channels, with your accountant, for those.
For a company with a handful of staff, the practical split is: HR holds contracts and leave, the accountant runs payroll and filings, and a director approves the monthly payment. Write that split down so absence does not stop a payroll run.
Back-ups matter as well. If the person holding the CorpPass payroll role is on leave on the submission day, the contribution is late unless an alternate user already exists.
Manually looking up CPF contribution rates by employee age bracket, calculating each amount and entering them into a spreadsheet every month produces errors and occasional late remittances that attract CPF Board penalties.
Look up CPF rates on the CPF Board website and remit through CPF EZPay yourself. 4softhr does not calculate payroll or CPF contributions for Singapore (payroll calculation is Romania only) and does not produce EZPay files or pay slips.
Preparing the annual IR8A declarations for all employees — reconciling monthly pay slips with CPF records and IRAS requirements — consumes several days of work and is error-prone when done manually.
Prepare IR8A declarations with your accountant and submit them to IRAS through its own channel. 4softhr keeps employee and leave records you can refer to; it does not generate IR8A forms or CPF schedules.
No. CPF applies to Singapore citizens and permanent residents. Employees on Employment Passes, S Passes or Work Permits are outside CPF, though the employer still pays the Skills Development Levy for them. If an employee becomes a permanent resident, start CPF contributions from the month the status changes, using the graduated rates published by CPF Board.
CPF contributions for each month are submitted and paid through CPF Board's e-services, with a deadline in the following month. CPF Board publishes the exact date and accepted payment methods. Late payment attracts interest, and repeated delays can lead to enforcement against the company, so schedule the payment in the payroll calendar.
It is a levy employers pay on remuneration for every employee, including foreign workers, to fund training programmes. It is submitted and paid to CPF Board together with the CPF contribution. The calculation base and rates are set out on the CPF Board website, so check the current figures when you prepare each month's payroll.
IR8A is the form in which an employer reports an employee's annual employment income to IRAS. Many employers submit data through the Auto-Inclusion Scheme instead of paper forms, usually by early March for the previous calendar year. The figures feed the employee's tax assessment, so check them against payroll before you submit.
Yes. When a foreign employee ceases employment or leaves Singapore, the employer must notify IRAS using Form IR21 and withhold money for tax clearance. Send the notification in good time before the last day. If you release all the money without clearance, the company may become liable for tax the employee owes.
Keep employee, leave and timesheet records. CPF and IR8A are handled with CPF Board and IRAS.
