04 Jan 2016

Employers are reminded to make CPF Contributions for employees by 14 Jan 2016 to receive Wage Credit Scheme payouts


Employers of eligible Singaporean employees are reminded to make the full CPF contributions for these employees by 14 January 2016 in order to receive the third tranche of Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) payouts in March 2016.

To qualify for the third tranche of the WCS payout, employers must fulfil the following conditions:

  1. Have given Singaporean employees a wage increase of at least $50 in 2015 and/or have sustained the wage increases (at least $50) previously given to employees in 2014 and 2013; and
  2. Have paid the employees’ mandatory CPF contributions for 2015 wages to CPF Board by 14 January 20161.

Employers do not need to apply to receive the WCS payouts. Eligible employers will receive letters from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) by March 2016 informing them of the amount of WCS payout they will be given. The payouts will be credited directly into the employers’ bank accounts or issued as cheques to employers.

The WCS forms part of the Transition Support Package announced in Budget 2013 to help businesses cope with rising wage costs in a tight labour market. The WCS co-funds 40% of the wage increases given to Singaporean employees earning a gross monthly wage2 of $4,000 and below. This allows businesses to free up resources for investments in productivity, and share the productivity gains with their employees. To give businesses more time to adjust to rising wages, the Government has extended the WCS for two more years, i.e. 2016 to 20173.

Please refer to Annex (PDF, 78KB) for details on the WCS. For more information, you may visit IRAS’ website (www.iras.gov.sg/irasHome/wcs.aspx), contact IRAS at 1800-352-4727 or email [email protected].

Issued by Ministry of Finance 
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore

1 Employers are required to make CPF contributions within 14 days from the end of each month for which CPF contributions are due. Late payment interest will otherwise apply.
2 Gross monthly wage is defined as total wage of the employee paid by the employer in the calendar year (including basic salary, overtime pay and bonuses), divided by the number of months of CPF contribution.
3 Wage increases given in 2016 and 2017, and those given in 2015 that are sustained in 2016 and 2017 by the same employer will be co-funded at 20%.