SDL Calculator and SHG Contribution Rates in Singapore (2026)

By Lucas Seah, Founder of Excellence Singapore Group | Last Updated: October 2026

Singapore employers pay the Skills Development Levy (SDL) every month: 0.25% of each employee’s total wages, at least S$2 and at most S$11.25 per employee. Many employees also have a Self-Help Group (SHG) contribution deducted from their pay, to CDAC, ECF, MBMF or SINDA depending on their race, religion and status. You pay both to CPF Board together with the month’s CPF contributions, by the 14th of the following month. Use the SDL calculator below to see both amounts for any wage.

SDL calculator with SHG contributions

Enter the month’s wages and the employee’s profile to see the employer’s SDL and the SHG to deduct.

For a payroll with different wages, SWDA's SDL calculator adds every employee and rounds the total for you.

The calculator follows the CPF Board tables and the Skills Development Levy Act as they stand in October 2026. It does not compute CPF itself: for the employee and employer CPF shares, use our take-home salary calculator.

Key Takeaways

• SDL is the employer's cost: 0.25% of total wages, from S$2 to S$11.25 per employee.
• Add up every employee's SDL, then round the total down to the whole dollar.
• SHG comes out of the employee's pay: CDAC S$0.50 to S$3, ECF S$2 to S$20, MBMF S$3 to S$26, SINDA S$1 to S$30 a month.
• Rates are unchanged in 2026; SWDA has administered SDL since 1 July 2026.

Jump to the rates: CDAC | ECF | MBMF | SINDA

SDL and SHG at a glance

How the Skills Development Levy works

The Skills Development Levy Act requires every employer to pay, for each employee, the greater of 0.25% of the employee's wages for the month and S$2. Wages above S$4,500 in a month are not levied, which caps the levy at S$11.25.

Here is what that means at common wage levels:

Three details catch employers out:

• Total wages, bonus included. The Act defines wages as remuneration in money, including any bonus. An employee on S$3,000 a month who receives a S$3,000 bonus in December has S$6,000 of wages that month, so December's levy is the S$11.25 maximum, not S$7.50.
• Round the total, not each employee. Work out SDL for each employee, add the amounts, then round the total down to the nearest dollar. In CPF Board's own example, five employees' levies add up to S$40.75, so the amount payable is S$40.
• Foreign employees count. SDL applies to every employee working in Singapore, including foreign employees and part-time, casual and temporary staff. If you use the auto-computation in CPF EZPay, SDL is auto-computed only for Singapore Citizen and PR employees, so you must enter the SDL for foreign employees yourself.

The levy does not apply to a domestic servant, gardener or chauffeur employed by an individual for personal purposes rather than for a business (SDL Act, section 2). Some students are also exempt, such as students of local universities, polytechnics and ITE employed for training their institution approves, and school students (other than those who have finished their A levels) working during the gazetted school holidays (Skills Development Levy (Exemption) Order 2014).

CPF Board collects SDL on behalf of the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA), which has administered the levy since 1 July 2026, so older guides and letters may still refer to SkillsFuture Singapore. If you employ only foreign employees, you pay SDL directly to SWDA. The money goes into the Skills Development Fund, which pays for workforce training programmes and training grants.

How SHG contributions work

Singapore has four Self-Help Groups serving the Chinese, Eurasian, Muslim and Indian communities. CPF Board collects their contributions, and as the employer you are expected to deduct the contribution from the employee's wages and pay it with your CPF contributions. The money is the employee's, not an employer cost, and it shows as a deduction on the employee's itemised payslip.

Which fund applies to which employee

CDAC, ECF and SINDA follow the race shown on the employee's NRIC; where two races are listed, the first one decides. MBMF follows religion, so it is added to the race-based fund: a Muslim employee whose NRIC race is Indian contributes to both MBMF and SINDA (CPF Board), and a Chinese Muslim employee contributes to both CDAC and MBMF (CDAC). Where the NRIC does not show what you need, CPF Board says you may rely on a declaration from the employee, and employees must tell you about any change.

For foreign employees, only two funds can apply: MBMF for Muslim employees on any pass, and SINDA for Employment Pass holders of Indian descent, a term SINDA defines widely to include, for example, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. There is no CDAC or ECF deduction for a foreign employee, and no SINDA deduction for S Pass or Work Permit holders. Salaried directors count as employees too: SINDA, for one, says directors who are salaried are required to contribute (see our guide to director salary and CPF).

What counts as wages for SHG

All four funds use the employee's total wages for the month, ordinary plus additional wages such as a bonus, the same base as CPF (CPF Board). Each fund says the same in its own guidance: the Eurasian Association, SINDA, MUIS and CDAC. A bonus month can therefore move an employee up one band or more.

SHG contribution rates for CDAC, ECF, MBMF and SINDA (2026)

These are the monthly amounts in CPF Board's tables, which match the schedules in the law. Each band includes its upper figure, so total wages of exactly S$2,000 fall in CDAC's first band. None of these tables has changed since 2016.

CDAC contribution rates

In force for wages from 1 January 2015 under the CDAC contribution rules. A Chinese Citizen or PR earning S$3,500 a month contributes S$1.

ECF contribution rates

In force for wages from 1 January 2015 under the Eurasian Association contribution rules. The Eurasian Association lets an employee pay more than the table but not less; the alternative is to opt out.

MBMF contribution rates

In force for wages from 1 June 2016 under the Administration of Muslim Law Act, Third Schedule. MUIS splits each amount between a mosque and religious education component and a Mendaki component.

SINDA contribution rates

In force for wages from 1 January 2015 under the SINDA contribution rules, and SINDA publishes the same table.

Can employees opt out of SHG contributions?

Yes, for all four funds, but it takes the fund's own form or confirmation, not just a word to HR. Until you have it, keep deducting the table amount.

• CDAC. The employee completes CDAC's Opt-Out Form. CDAC says the employer can stop the deduction immediately after the form is sent, should keep a copy on file, and will not receive an acknowledgement.
• ECF. The employee notifies you using the form the Eurasian Association provides, as the ECF rules require.
• SINDA. The employee submits SINDA's digital notification form, which notifies both SINDA and you. Since 27 October 2025, SINDA accepts only that online form. It can reduce the amount or opt out entirely, it stays valid while the employee works for you, and the employee can restart simply by telling HR.
• MBMF. The employee applies to MUIS with the Change Application Form to increase, reduce or opt out of any of the three components (mosque building, religious education and Mendaki). MUIS issues a certificate within two weeks and the employee then tells you.

A Muslim employee who also contributes to CDAC or SINDA can opt out of either fund the same way. An employee with two jobs contributes through each employer by default. CDAC, ECF and SINDA each let the employee opt out at one employer and keep contributing through the other, and MUIS can exempt all but one employer from MBMF on the employee's application.

Worked examples: an employee earning S$3,500

Take an employee whose total wages for the month are S$3,500. The employer's SDL is S$8.75 whatever the employee's race or pass. The SHG deduction depends on the fund:

If all 7 worked for one company, their SDL would add up to 7 × S$8.75 = S$61.25, and the amount payable would be S$61.00 once the total is rounded down to the whole dollar.

Now give the same employee a S$7,000 year-end bonus in December. Total wages for December are S$10,500, so every figure moves up:

Three more mistakes to avoid

1. Confusing SDL with the foreign worker levy. SDL is 0.25% of wages for every employee. The foreign worker levy is a separate monthly MOM charge for each Work Permit and S Pass holder, with its own rates and quota rules (see our foreign worker levy and quota guide).
2. Treating workers as contractors when they are employees. SDL and SHG follow employment. If you are not sure whether someone is an employee or a contractor, settle that first: our guide to employee vs contractor status sets out MOM's approach.
3. Missing MBMF in the year-end IR8A data. IRAS says salary deductions for CDAC, SINDA and ECF are pre-filled in the employment income records, but Mosque Building Fund and Mendaki Fund amounts are not, so you must enter them yourself. Our Form IR8A guide covers the year-end filing.

What happens if you pay late or underpay

SDL paid late. The Skills Development Levy Regulations impose a penalty of 10% a year on the amount outstanding from the end of the 14-day payment period. SWDA can waive the penalty where it considers the circumstances warrant it.

SDL short-paid or unpaid. SWDA can serve a notice of assessment for the shortfall, and you have two months from the notice to lodge a written objection. Past outstanding SDL is paid through the GoBusiness dashboard. If you overpaid, you can apply for a refund within six years.

SHG omitted or underpaid. Pay the shortfall to CPF Board immediately. For CDAC, ECF and SINDA, back payment goes back only to 1 January of the year in which you discover the omission. For MBMF, back payment covers every month since the omission began, including earlier years. So an omission found in July 2026 that started in December 2024 needs CDAC back payments from January 2026, but MBMF back payments from December 2024.

MBMF not paid over. Under the Administration of Muslim Law Act, an employer who fails to pay MBMF on time can be fined up to S$500, and up to S$2,000 if the amount was deducted from the employee's wages but not paid over.

Paid too much or to the wrong fund. Contact the fund directly. Under the CDAC, ECF and SINDA rules, a refund of an amount paid in error must generally be claimed within one year.

How SDL and SHG fit into the monthly CPF submission

1. Work out each employee's total wages for the month: ordinary wages plus any additional wages, such as a bonus (CPF Board). Overtime pay is part of total wages, as ordinary or additional wages depending on when it is paid; our overtime pay calculator works out the amount.
2. Compute CPF contributions at the current rates; our guide to the 2026 CPF contribution rates has the tables.
3. Compute SDL for each employee, add the amounts up and round the total down to the whole dollar.
4. Look up each employee's SHG amount, deduct it from the employee's pay and show it on the payslip.
5. Submit CPF, SDL and SHG together through CPF EZPay. CPF is due by the last day of the month, and CPF Board takes enforcement action if it is not paid by the 14th of the following month (or the next working day if the 14th is a weekend or public holiday).
6. If all your employees are foreign, pay SDL to SWDA instead. For employees who do not contribute to CPF, MUIS asks employers to send the MBMF contribution to MUIS by cheque.
7. At the year end, report the salary donations in each employee's IR8A data, entering MBMF amounts yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is SDL deducted from the employee's salary?

No. The Skills Development Levy is charged on the employer, so it is a cost of employing staff rather than a deduction from pay. You pay 0.25% of each employee's total wages for the month, at least S$2 and at most S$11.25 per employee, with your CPF contributions. The SHG contribution works the other way: it is the employee's money, which you deduct from wages and pay over.

Do I pay SDL for foreign employees?

Yes. SDL applies to every employee working in Singapore, local or foreign, including part-time, casual and temporary staff. If you also have local employees, pay it with your CPF contributions and enter the foreign employees' SDL yourself in CPF EZPay, because its auto-computation covers only Citizens and PRs. If all your employees are foreign, pay SDL directly to SWDA.

Is CDAC contribution compulsory?

CDAC is deducted by default from the pay of every Chinese employee who is a Singapore Citizen or PR, unless the employee opts out. To opt out, the employee completes CDAC's Opt-Out Form, and you can stop the deduction as soon as the form is sent, keeping a copy on file. The amount is S$0.50 to S$3 a month, depending on total wages.

Can a Muslim employee opt out of MBMF?

Yes. MUIS lets an employee increase, reduce or opt out of any of the three MBMF components: mosque building, religious education and Mendaki. The employee submits a Change Application Form to MUIS, MUIS confirms the change with a certificate within two weeks, and the employee then tells you. Until you have that confirmation, keep deducting the amount in the MBMF table.

Do SHG contributions apply to bonuses?

Yes. All four funds use the employee's total wages for the month, meaning ordinary wages plus additional wages such as a bonus. In the month a bonus is paid, the employee may move into a higher band. For example, a CDAC contributor on S$3,500 a month who receives a S$7,000 bonus contributes S$3 that month instead of S$1.

When are SDL and SHG contributions due?

The law gives 14 days after the end of the month for both. In practice you pay them with the month's CPF contributions, which CPF Board expects by the 14th of the following month, or the next working day if the 14th falls on a weekend or public holiday. Late SDL attracts a penalty of 10% a year on the amount outstanding.

Let us handle SDL, SHG and CPF every month

Getting SDL and SHG right is a monthly job: the right fund for each employee, the right band in a bonus month, the opt-out forms on file and the right figures in the IR8A data at the year end. Our payroll service runs your monthly salaries and pays CPF, SDL and SHG together, from S$30 per employee a month. Year-end IR8A filing and IR21 tax clearance are charged separately, per employee, and a managed payroll service and add-on modules (leave, claims, attendance) are quoted separately. For a fuller picture of costs, see our payroll outsourcing cost guide. To get started, talk to us.