Any manager, agent or person responsible for the payment of wages to an employee on behalf of an employer;

Any person trading in his own name or who has domestic worker(s). The person must register under the name shown in his identity card or passport;

Business companies which employ foreign workers holding work permits in Singapore. These employees are on the Foreign Worker Levy (FWL) Scheme and are exempted from CPF contributions.

a)

 

 

	Making your first CPF contribution as a new employer
	You are only required to complete the FORM-CPF/1 when you need to make your first CPF payment. Please attach the cheque together with the form and submit it to us. Your cheque should be crossed and made payable to “CPF Board”. The employer’s name, contact details and the words “Making First CPF Contribution” must be indicated at the back of the cheque. You will receive a welcome package and your employer reference number after we have processed your first CPF payment.
	Register your new employee/s
	You need to register your new employee/s. Employees who are transferred to another employer and paid CPF contributions under another Employer Reference Number must be registered as new employees under the new reference number. Click here to download the form

 

b)

 

As an employer, you need to ensure that your employee/s CPF contributions are paid on time. CPF savings help Singaporeans to meet the needs of their families for healthcare, home-ownership, family protection and asset enhancement.

CPF contributions must be paid monthly for all employees at the rates set out in the CPF Act from the first day of their employment. If the employment does not start on the first day of a month, the contributions payable for that month should be based on the employee's actual wages up to the end of the month. The employee's share of the contributions is recovered through deductions from the employee's wages. This occurs when wages are paid out.

CPF contributions are also payable for the following:

	Company Directors
	Part-time/Casual Employees
	National Service (Reservist in-camp training)
	Concurrent Employment
	Singapore Permanent Residents

Click here to view our Employer Handbook for more information on CPF for employees. If you wish to know more about the CPF contribution rates, click here.

c)

 

Under the CPF Act, wages is defined as remuneration in money due or given to an employee in respect of his employment. This includes overtime pay, allowances, cash awards, commissions and bonuses.

Wages are classified as follows:

	Ordinary Wages
	Additional Wages
	Total Wages

Computation of CPF

Definition of Wages:

CPF contributions are computed based on the employee's wages. Under the CPF Act, wages is defined as remuneration in money due or given to an employee in respect of his employment. This includes overtime pay, allowances, cash awards, commissions and bonuses.

Click here for a general guide as to when CPF is payable.

For the purpose of computation, "wages" is classified as follows:

a.	Ordinary Wages
	Ordinary Wages are wages due or granted wholly and exclusively in respect of an employee's employment in that month and payable before the due date for payment of CPF contributions for that month. This includes allowances (e. g. food allowance or overtime payment).
b.	Additional Wages
	Additional Wages are wages which are not granted wholly and exclusively for the month. Examples are the annual bonus, leave pay, incentive and other payments made at intervals of more than a month.
c.	Total Wages
	The total amount of an employee's wages for any calendar month means the sum of his Ordinary Wages for the month and the Additional Wages paid to him in that month. Total Wages = Total Ordinary Wages + Total Additional Wages.
d.	Limits on CPF contributions
	Ordinary Wage Ceiling   The maximum amount of CPF payable is based on a monthly salary ceiling of $4,500 for Ordinary Wages Additional Wage Ceiling   The Additional Wage Ceiling sets the maximum amount of Additional Wages on which CPF is payable. Click here for more information on calculating Additional Wage Ceiling. Click here to the CPF Additional Wage Ceiling Calculator. Voluntary Contribution (VC) Limit   The maximum amount of contributions an employee may contribute voluntarily is $26,393 for 2008. This amount includes mandatory contributions (includes CPF contributions on Ordinary and Additional Wages for employees, and Medisave contributions by self-employed persons). If the employee’s mandatory contributions have already reached the VC limit, no voluntary contribution can be made. Click here for more information on voluntary contributions.

Wages Not Paid Monthly

When wages are not paid according to the calendar month, e. g. weekly or fortnightly, apportion the wages according to the calendar month for which CPF contributions are paid. The apportionment is necessary to determine the "Ordinary Wages" for the calendar month on which CPF contributions are computed.

Example

Company XYZ pays its employees wages every week. Computation of CPF for the month of February 2006 is based on the wages from 1 to 28 February; i.e. wages for 29 to 31 January 2006 for the first week and 1 to 4 March 2006 for the last week are excluded.

February 2006
SUN	MON	TUES	WED	THUR	FRI	SAT
29	30	31	1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	1	2	3	4

CPF is payable as long as your employee’s wage for the calendar month exceeds the following amount:

Age	Employee's wage exceeding
35 years and below	$50
Above 35 to 50 years	$55.18
Above 50 to 55 years	$57.17
Above 55 to 60 years	$60.04
Above 60 to 65 years	$65.06
Above 65 years	$65.06

The contribution rates vary according to the individual employee’s age and monthly wage.

Click here for more information on contribution rates for Singaporeans and employees who are Singapore Residents.

If your employee moves to the next age group, the new contribution rate will only apply from the first day of the month after his birthday.

Age	CPF Contribution Rate
Employee reaches 50 years of age on 13 January 2006	33% of wages earned in January 2006	27% of wages earned in February 2006

CPF for Singapore Permanent Residents (SPR)  

Foreign employees who obtain SPR status

CPF is payable once a foreign employee obtains SPR status. To help the employee adjust to the lower take-home pay, both the employer and employee will contribute at graduated rates for the first two years.

The first year rate is payable on the date of your employee’s conversion to a SPR. The second and third year rates are payable from the month following the anniversary of the employee’s conversion to an SPR. For example, if your employee became a SPR on 23 January 2005, the first year rate would apply from 23 January 2005. The second and third year rates will apply from 1 February 2006 and 1 February 2007 respectively.

Foreigners, who have obtained their SPR status, should only maintain one CPF account. Employers should inform such employees to merge their previous CPF account (if any) with their new CPF account. CPF contributions for SPRs into CPF accounts with the prefix SA/SB/SD/SF/TC/TF will be rejected. Merging of CPF accounts can be done by submitting clear photocopies of the documents listed below:

	Singapore Identity Card
	Passport
	CPF Membership Card
	Entry/Re-entry permit

Types of SPR contributions

SPR employees and their employers have the option to jointly apply to CPF Board to contribute at other prescribed rates during the employee’s first two years of obtaining the SPR status.

A summary of the options available is as follow:

Option	Employer	Employee	Application	Contribution Rates
1	Graduated rate	Graduated rate	Mandatory once employee obtains SPR status	Refer to Annex C & D
2	Full rate	Full rate	Upon application	Refer to Annex B
3	Full rate	Graduated rate	Upon application	Refer to Annex E & F

Option (1) applies once your employee obtains his SPR status.
For options (2) and (3), you and the employee must jointly apply to the Board using the prescribed form CNR/PR/94. Once the application is approved, it is irrevocable. These rates will cease to apply upon a change of employment within the first two years, i.e. the rates will go back to the graduated rates.

d)

 

You can submit the CPF contribution details of your employee/s through the following:

	Electronic
	This is simpler, faster and a more secure means of submission. There are several ways in which you can do an electronic submission: Provident and Tax (PAT) CPF E-Submission (Employers) Service mPAL-Employer Submission Click here for more information on electronic submission
	Hard copy
	From January 2005, employers, who submit CPF for 11 to 99 employees using hard copy forms, will be charged a processing fee of $7 per employee per month. Click here for more information on hard copy submission.

 

e)

 

You need to submit the CPF contribution details when you pay CPF contributions for your employee/s. There are various payment modes which you can consider:

	Interbank GIRO
	This is the most convenient option for employers who do not have to get any signatories to make payment.
	Standing Instructions
	This is suitable for employers whose CPF contributions are fixed for their employee/s each month. You only need to give a one-time standing instruction to pay a fixed amount for the employee/s every month.
	MAS Electronic Payment System (MEPS)
	This is suitable if the CPF contributions for your employee/s vary monthly.
	E-Payment
	This is suitable if you want control over your cash flow and yet enjoy the convenience of electronic payment.
	Cheques
	Cheques should be crossed and made payable to the CPF Board.
	Cash
	Cash payment can only be made at any Singapore Post Office

Click here for more information on the various mode of payment.

The grace period for the payment of CPF contributions is 14 days after the end of the month for which such contributions are due and payable. If the due date falls on a Sunday or Public Holiday, CPF contributions must be paid by the next working day.

Click here for more information on enforcement of CPF Contributions.

f)

CPF contributions are meant to help your employee/s meet their basic needs for housing, healthcare and retirement. You may wish to contribute more for your employee/s’ Medisave account. However, each year you may contribute up to $1,500 per employee.

The employee/s can use the additional Medisave contribution to purchase an approved personal medical insurance, or meet healthcare expenses when the need arises. AMCS contributions are tax-free for the employee, and are not part of the CPF Voluntary Contribution Limit of $26,393 for 2008.

Click here for more information on AMCS.

g)

 

If your employee resigns in the current year:

	Recalculate the Additional Wage Ceiling based on the actual Ordinary Wages subject to CPF, paid up till the last month of employment and make CPF adjustments if necessary.
	Pay any shortfall in the CPF contributions together with the employee’s contributions for his last month of employment.
	Apply for a refund of the excess contributions (if any) by submitting the refund application form, CNR/RFM/CAPVC, to the Refund Management Section.