AYP runs payroll for companies employing staff in Singapore, from CPF and Skills Development Levy calculations through to Auto-Inclusion Scheme filing with IRAS. You get compliant payslips, statutory submissions made on time, and one team covering 18 Asian markets as you grow.
Want this handled for you? Speak to the AYP team about Singapore payroll.
Most companies come to AYP's payroll service for one of two reasons: they have just hired their first people in Singapore and do not want to build a payroll function, or they have outgrown a spreadsheet and want the statutory filing off their desk. Either way, the scope is the same each month.
Pricing is a predictable monthly fee rather than a per-filing charge, set out on the pricing page. If you do not have a Singapore entity yet, AYP can employ your staff through its own, which is covered under Employer of Record Singapore.
Book a demo to see how it maps to your headcount.
Singapore payroll is not complicated in the way Indonesia or Korea are. There is no monthly tax withholding, and the rules are clearly published. What catches employers out is the detail: CPF rates change with each employee's age band and residency status, the Ordinary and Additional Wage ceilings interact, and the rates moved again on 1 January 2026.
That makes it a poor fit for a spreadsheet and a good fit for outsourcing. The common triggers are a first hire in Singapore, a finance team without local payroll experience, an upcoming audit, or a company already running payroll in one Asian market that wants the rest handled the same way.
The table below is the quick reference most employers need. Rates and ceilings are current for 2026.
The Central Provident Fund is the largest single employer cost in Singapore payroll, and the one most often calculated wrongly. Two rules matter before the rates do. CPF is payable only for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents, so employees on an Employment Pass or S Pass are outside it entirely. And Permanent Residents pay graduated, lower rates during their first two years of PR status.
Rates are set by age band, and they changed on 1 January 2026 for employees aged above 55 to 65. The table below reflects the current rates for Citizens and PRs from their third year onward, on monthly wages above S$750.
Two ceilings cap the calculation. The Ordinary Wage ceiling, which applies to monthly salary, rose to S$8,000 from 1 January 2026. The Additional Wage ceiling, which applies to bonuses and other non-monthly payments, is S$102,000 minus the total Ordinary Wages already subject to CPF that year. Contributions are due at the end of each month, with enforcement action following if payment is not made by the 14th of the following month.
The CPF Board has also announced a further increase to senior worker rates from 1 January 2027, so budgets built on today's figures will need revisiting.
AYP applies the correct age band, residency status and ceiling for every employee, every month. Talk to the team.
Beyond CPF, three other payments run through Singapore payroll.
Self-help group contributions are made by employees from their own wages, but the employer is responsible for deducting the right amount for the right community and remitting it. Employment Pass holders do not attract a foreign worker levy, while Work Permit and S Pass holders do.
Singapore does not operate a pay-as-you-earn system. Employers do not withhold income tax from local employees' monthly salaries, and employees file their own returns with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. Resident rates are progressive from 0% to 24%. Non-residents pay 15% on employment income or the resident rates, whichever produces more tax.
The employer's obligation is annual rather than monthly. Under the Auto-Inclusion Scheme, employers submit employees' income information to IRAS electronically by 1 March, and it flows straight into the employee's tax return. Employers outside the scheme issue IR8A forms to employees instead.
There is one exception to the no-withholding rule. When a foreign employee leaves Singapore or ceases employment, the employer must seek tax clearance by filing Form IR21, generally at least one month beforehand, and withhold any monies owed until IRAS confirms the position.
The Employment Act, administered by the Ministry of Manpower, sets the ground rules. Salary must be paid at least monthly and within seven days of the end of the salary period, and final pay on termination has tighter timelines. Employers must issue itemised payslips and give employees written key employment terms.
Singapore has no national minimum wage. Instead, Progressive Wage Models set wage floors in specific sectors such as cleaning, security and retail, and the Local Qualifying Salary sets the level a local employee must be paid for the employer to count them toward its foreign worker quota. Statutory leave includes annual leave, sick leave, and paid maternity, paternity and childcare leave, with the parental leave framework expanding in 2026.
Once you have people to pay, there are three practical routes, and the right one depends on whether you already have a Singapore entity and how many staff you expect to hire.
If you have not incorporated in Singapore yet, or you want to hire before you do, an Employer of Record lets you employ staff compliantly without your own local company. That is a broader hiring decision than payroll alone, and it is covered in AYP's Employer of Record Singapore service and the guide to hiring in Singapore. For a straight comparison of the two models, AYP's team has written on in-house versus outsourced payroll.
AYP has been running payroll for companies in Asia for over two decades, covering 18 markets from a single platform. For Singapore that means CPF, SDL, self-help group contributions, foreign worker levy, Auto-Inclusion Scheme filing and itemised payslips, handled on schedule, with a named contact rather than a ticket queue.
To scope it against your headcount and pass types, speak to the AYP team. Pricing sits on the pricing page, and employers new to the process can read AYP's note on the common payroll mistakes businesses make. Payroll in other markets is covered in the full payroll country guides.
For employees aged 55 and below, the employer pays 17% and the employee 20%, a total of 37%. From 1 January 2026, employees aged above 55 to 60 are at 16% employer and 18% employee, and those aged above 60 to 65 are at 12.5% each. CPF applies only to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents.
The Ordinary Wage ceiling rose to S$8,000 a month on 1 January 2026, so monthly salary above that does not attract CPF. A separate Additional Wage ceiling applies to bonuses and is calculated as S$102,000 minus the total Ordinary Wages already subject to CPF for that year.
No. Singapore has no pay-as-you-earn system, so employers do not deduct income tax from local employees' monthly pay. Employers instead report annual earnings to IRAS through the Auto-Inclusion Scheme by 1 March. The exception is a departing foreign employee, where the employer must file Form IR21 for tax clearance and withhold monies owed.
No. CPF is payable only for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents. Employment Pass and S Pass holders do not receive CPF. Employers of Work Permit and S Pass holders pay a foreign worker levy instead, at rates that vary by sector and dependency ratio.
Not through a standard payroll provider, which needs an entity to file CPF and IRAS submissions under. Employers who want to hire and pay staff before incorporating typically use an Employer of Record instead.