Every Singapore payslip with a CPF line is the same calculation: a percentage of wages, paid by the employee and by the employer, and split across the Ordinary, Special, and MediSave accounts by age. The percentages change with age, the split changes with age, and the ceilings cap both. This guide works the whole calculation, with the 2026 rates the CPF Board publishes.

How a CPF contribution is calculated, in four steps

A CPF contribution for an employee is calculated in four steps. First, take the wage for the month, split into Ordinary Wages, the regular monthly pay, and Additional Wages, the bonuses, commissions, and other payments that are not part of the regular monthly wage. Second, apply the contribution rate for the employee age band to the Ordinary Wages, up to the Ordinary Wage ceiling, and to the Additional Wages, subject to the annual ceiling. Third, split the total contribution between the employee share, deducted from pay, and the employer share, paid by the employer on top of pay. Both shares go into the employee CPF accounts; none of it stays with the employer, and the employer share is not a deduction from the employee take-home pay, though it is a cost to the employer. Fourth, allocate the total contribution across the accounts, in the proportions the CPF Board publishes for the age band, with MediSave allocated first, then the Special or Retirement Account, and the remainder to the Ordinary Account.

Two features of the calculation surprise first-time readers. The first is that the rate applies to wages up to a ceiling, not to all wages without limit, so a salary above the ceiling does not produce a proportionally larger contribution. The second is that the age band changes on the first day of the month after the birthday, not on the birthday itself, so a person who turns 55 during a month stays on the 55-and-below rate for that month, and moves to the above-55 rate from the following month. The calculator on the CPF Calculator page models the age bands, the ceilings, and the allocation, and it shows the take-home pay alongside the contribution, so that the payslip can be checked line by line. The tables and examples below use the 2026 rates, and the rates for employees above 55 rise again on 1 January 2027, by 1.5 percentage points for the above-55-to-60 band and 1 percentage point for the above-60-to-65 band, with the whole increase allocated to the Retirement Account. A calculation done for 2027 must use the 2027 table, not the 2026 table given here.

The 2026 contribution rate table by age

The table below gives the 2026 contribution rates for Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents in their third year and beyond, who pay the full rates. Permanent Residents in their first two years pay graduated rates, lower in the first year and rising in the second, under the graduated scheme, unless the employer and employee jointly elect the full rates. The rates are percentages of wages up to the ceilings, and the age bands are as the CPF Board publishes them, with the change taking effect from the month after the birthday.

The pattern of the table is the policy in miniature. The total falls with age, because older workers are expected to draw on their savings rather than accumulate at the same pace, and because the employer share is meant to taper as the worker approaches retirement. The employee share falls faster than the employer share at the older bands, so that above 65 the employer pays more than the employee, 9 percent against 7.5 percent, and above 70, 7.5 percent against 5 percent. There is no age at which contributions stop while a person is still working: a 75-year-old employee still contributes at 12.5 percent, and the employer still contributes their share. The rates are compulsory for covered employment, and they are not negotiable between employer and employee, though the graduated rates for new Permanent Residents are an exception that must be elected or applied as the scheme directs.

Where the money goes: allocation across the three accounts

The total contribution is not one pot. The CPF Board splits it across three accounts, with different uses: the Ordinary Account, for housing, education, insurance, and investment; the Special Account, for retirement, which is closed at 55 and replaced by the Retirement Account; and the MediSave Account, for hospitalisation, approved medical costs, and MediShield Life premiums. The Board publishes the allocation as a ratio of the total contribution, and the table below restates it as a percentage of wages, by multiplying the ratio by the total rate for the band, so that it can be read directly off a payslip. Every row sums to the band total, which is the check that the restatement is correct.

The allocation bands are narrower than the contribution bands, which is why the table has eight rows against the rate table five. The Ordinary Account share falls at every step, from 23 percent of wages at 35 and below to 1 percent above 65, because the Ordinary Account is for pre-retirement uses, and the system steers an increasing share toward retirement and healthcare as the member ages. The MediSave share rises from 8 percent to 10.5 percent and then holds, because healthcare needs rise with age and MediSave must keep pace. The Special Account share rises to 11.5 percent, then, from 55, the Special Account closes and its share goes to the Retirement Account, which is formed at 55 from the Ordinary and Special Account balances up to the retirement sum. The Board order of allocation is MediSave first, then the Special or Retirement Account, with the remainder to the Ordinary Account, which is why the Ordinary Account is the residual and the one that falls fastest.

Interest is paid on the balances, at rates the Board sets quarterly, subject to legislated floors: the Ordinary Account earns 2.5 percent a year, and the Special, MediSave, and Retirement Accounts earn 4 percent a year, with the 4 percent floor on the latter three extended to 31 December 2027. An extra 1 percent is paid on the first S$60,000 of combined balances, with additional extra interest for members aged 55 and above on the first S$30,000, subject to the caps the Board publishes. The interest is not a contribution, and it is not in the rate table, but it is a substantial part of the growth of a CPF balance over a working life, and the calculator on the hub page models the contribution side only, leaving the interest to the account statements, where it appears monthly. A reader comparing the calculator output with a CPF statement should expect the statement balance to grow faster than contributions alone, by the interest, and slower where withdrawals for housing or other approved uses have been made.

Worked examples: S$3,000, S$5,000, and S$8,000 a month

Three salaries, all for a member aged 35 and below, show the calculation at work. At S$3,000 a month, the employee contribution is 20 percent, or S$600, the employer contribution is 17 percent, or S$510, and the total is S$1,110. The allocation is 23 percent of wages to the Ordinary Account, or S$690, 6 percent to the Special Account, or S$180, and 8 percent to MediSave, or S$240, summing to S$1,110. The take-home pay, before income tax and other deductions, is S$3,000 minus S$600, or S$2,400. At S$5,000 a month, the employee contribution is S$1,000, the employer contribution is S$850, the total is S$1,850, allocated S$1,150 to the Ordinary Account, S$300 to the Special Account, and S$400 to MediSave, and the take-home pay is S$4,000. At S$8,000 a month, the ceiling, the employee contribution is S$1,600, the employer contribution is S$1,360, the total is S$2,960, allocated S$1,840, S$480, and S$640, and the take-home pay is S$6,400.

The same S$5,000 salary at age 58, in the above-55-to-60 band, gives a different result. The total rate is 34 percent, so the employee contribution is 18 percent, or S$900, the employer contribution is 16 percent, or S$800, and the total is S$1,700. The allocation is 12 percent to the Ordinary Account, or S$600, 11.5 percent to the Retirement Account, or S$575, and 10.5 percent to MediSave, or S$525, summing to S$1,700. The take-home pay is S$4,100, higher than at 35, because the employee rate fell, and the retirement share of the contribution rose, because the allocation steered more to the Retirement Account. At age 63, in the above-60-to-65 band, the total is 25 percent, or S$1,250 on S$5,000, split S$625 and S$625, allocated S$175 to the Ordinary Account, S$550 to the Retirement Account, and S$525 to MediSave, and the take-home pay is S$4,375. The progression shows the policy working as designed: take-home pay rises with age, the retirement share rises, and the housing share falls, because the member is past the stage of life when housing is the dominant CPF use.

The ceilings: S$8,000 a month, and S$102,000 a year

Contributions apply to Ordinary Wages up to S$8,000 a month in 2026, called the Ordinary Wage ceiling. Wages above the ceiling attract no CPF contribution on the excess, from either the employee or the employer. A salary of S$10,000 a month therefore produces the same contribution as a salary of S$8,000: S$1,600 from the employee and S$1,360 from the employer at 37 percent, with the S$2,000 above the ceiling contributing nothing. The ceiling is set by the CPF Board and revised periodically, and it rose from S$7,400 to S$8,000 during 2026. A calculation that uses an old ceiling will overstate or understate the contribution, and the ceiling in force for the month being checked is the figure to use, confirmed from the Board or from the calculator, which models the 2026 ceiling.

The annual ceiling works alongside the monthly ceiling, for Additional Wages. Total wages subject to CPF in a year, Ordinary Wages plus Additional Wages, are capped at S$102,000 in 2026, called the annual salary ceiling. Additional Wages in a month attract CPF only to the extent that the year total wages, including the Additional Wages, remain within S$102,000, after deducting the Ordinary Wages already subject to CPF in the year. The effect is that a large bonus late in the year may attract little or no CPF, because the annual ceiling has already been reached by the monthly wages, while the same bonus early in the year, or in a year with lower monthly wages, attracts the full contribution. The bonus section below works an example, and the hub page calculator models the annual ceiling across the year, which is the only reliable way to check a bonus month, because the ceiling depends on the whole year history, not on the bonus month alone.

Bonuses and Additional Wages: the annual ceiling in action

Additional Wages include bonuses, annual wage supplements, commissions, and other variable payments that are not part of the regular monthly wage. They are subject to CPF at the same rates as Ordinary Wages, but only within the annual ceiling. Take a member aged 35 and below earning S$5,000 a month in Ordinary Wages, or S$60,000 a year. The headroom under the S$102,000 annual ceiling is S$42,000. A bonus of S$20,000 in December is fully within the headroom, so the full S$20,000 attracts CPF: S$4,000 from the employee and S$3,400 from the employer, allocated as the age band directs. A bonus of S$50,000, by contrast, exceeds the headroom by S$8,000, so only S$42,000 attracts CPF, giving S$8,400 and S$7,140, and the remaining S$8,000 attracts none. The distinction matters for the take-home pay in the bonus month, which is higher than a naive calculation on the full bonus would suggest, and for the retirement and MediSave balances, which grow by less than the bonus size alone would imply.

Overtime pay, allowances, and commissions that are paid monthly as part of the regular wage are generally Ordinary Wages, while one-off payments are Additional Wages, and the classification follows the nature of the payment, not the label the employer gives it. The distinction is worth confirming with the employer or the Board where a payment is borderline, because misclassification changes the ceiling treatment, and a payment treated as Ordinary Wages in a month above the monthly ceiling escapes CPF that it would have attracted as Additional Wages within the annual headroom, or the reverse. The calculator on the hub page asks for Ordinary and Additional Wages separately, and the separation should follow the payslip classification, which the employer is required to apply correctly.

What changes at 55, 60, and 65

At 55, three things happen together. The Special Account closes, and a Retirement Account is created, funded from the Ordinary and Special Account balances up to the Full Retirement Sum, with the excess remaining available in the Ordinary Account. The contribution rate steps down, from 37 percent to 34 percent, from the month after the 55th birthday. And the allocation changes, with the Retirement Account taking the share the Special Account held, at 11.5 percent of wages in the above-55-to-60 band. The retirement sums for members turning 55 in 2026 are S$110,200 for the Basic Retirement Sum, S$220,400 for the Full Retirement Sum, and S$440,800 for the Enhanced Retirement Sum, and members can top up their Retirement Account, with tax relief for cash top-ups up to the limits the tax rules set, to reach a higher sum and a higher CPF LIFE payout. The sums are revised each year for new cohorts, so the figures for a member turning 55 in a different year will differ, and the cohort year should always be stated alongside the sum.

At 60 and 65, the rate steps down again, to 25 percent and then 16.5 percent, with the allocation shifting further toward the Retirement Account and MediSave and away from the Ordinary Account, which receives only 3.5 percent of wages above 60 and 1 percent above 65. The practical effect is that CPF becomes, progressively, a retirement and healthcare scheme rather than a housing scheme, which matches the stage of life: the housing loan is usually repaid or well advanced, and the retirement income question dominates. Members can continue working and contributing past 65, at 16.5 percent to 70 and 12.5 percent above 70, and they can defer their CPF LIFE payouts to 70 for a higher monthly amount, as the companion article on CPF LIFE explains. The age bands are not retirement ages. They are contribution bands, and working past them is both possible and, for many, financially sensible.

Who pays, who does not, and the payslip check

CPF contributions are compulsory for Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents in covered employment, including part-time and contract work that meets the employment definition. Self-employed persons must contribute to MediSave, at rates set by age and net trade income, where the income exceeds S$6,000 a year, but are not required to contribute to the Ordinary or Special Accounts, though voluntary contributions are encouraged and attract tax relief within limits. Foreigners on Employment Passes, S Passes, and Work Permits do not contribute to CPF, and their employers do not contribute for them. Platform workers, from 2025, are being brought into the CPF system in phases, with contributions ramping up over several years, and the phase applicable to a given worker should be confirmed from the Board, because the rates during the transition differ from the full rates in the table above.

The payslip check is short, and it should be run every month the rate band, the ceiling, or the wage changes. Check the wage figure against the employment contract. Check the employee rate against the age band table, remembering the month-after-birthday rule. Check that the contribution was computed only up to the S$8,000 monthly ceiling for Ordinary Wages. Check the allocation against the allocation table, remembering that a whole percentage point missing from one account is not rounding and is worth raising. Check that the employer share is present, at the employer rate, and that it went into the accounts, not merely that it was stated. And check the Additional Wages treatment in any bonus month, against the annual ceiling. A payslip that passes all six checks is correct. A payslip that fails any of them should be raised with the employer, and then with the CPF Board, because the contribution is the member money, and the member is the person with the standing to ask.

Frequently asked questions

What are the CPF contribution rates in 2026?

For employees aged 55 and below, the total is 37 percent of wages: 20 percent from the employee and 17 percent from the employer. The total steps down with age: 34 percent above 55 to 60, 25 percent above 60 to 65, 16.5 percent above 65 to 70, and 12.5 percent above 70, applying to wages up to the ceilings.

How is a CPF contribution allocated across the accounts?

The CPF Board publishes the allocation as a ratio of the total contribution. Restated as a percentage of wages, a member aged 35 and below sends 23 percent to the Ordinary Account, 6 percent to the Special Account, and 8 percent to MediSave. The Ordinary Account share falls with every age band, the MediSave share rises to 10.5 percent and holds, and from 55 the Special Account share goes to the Retirement Account.

What is the CPF wage ceiling in 2026?

The Ordinary Wage ceiling is S$8,000 a month, and the annual salary ceiling, covering Ordinary Wages plus Additional Wages, is S$102,000. Wages above the monthly ceiling attract no contribution on the excess, and Additional Wages attract CPF only within the annual ceiling headroom remaining for the year.

Do CPF rates change when I turn 55?

The rate changes from the month after the 55th birthday, from 37 percent to 34 percent, and the Special Account closes, with a Retirement Account created from the Ordinary and Special Account balances up to the retirement sum. The allocation also changes, with 11.5 percent of wages going to the Retirement Account in the above-55-to-60 band.

Do bonuses attract CPF contributions?

Yes, bonuses and other Additional Wages attract CPF at the same rates, but only within the annual salary ceiling of S$102,000. A bonus that takes the year total wages above the ceiling attracts CPF only on the part within the ceiling, and the excess attracts none.

Do foreigners working in Singapore pay CPF?

Foreigners on Employment Passes, S Passes, and Work Permits do not contribute to CPF. CPF is compulsory for Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents in covered employment, with graduated rates for Permanent Residents in their first two years. Self-employed persons must contribute to MediSave above the income threshold but are not required to contribute to the other accounts.