CPFB | Skills Development Levy

Employer obligations

Skills Development Levy

As an employer, you need to pay the Skills Development Levy (SDL) for all your employees working in Singapore. Find out what the SDL is and how much you need to pay.

Overview

What is SDL?

The SDL is a compulsory levy that you have to pay for all your employees, including foreign employees, working in Singapore. This is in addition to your monthly CPF contributions. CPF Board collects SDL on behalf of the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency (SSG).

How SDL works

SDL is used to support workforce upgrading

The SDL collected is channelled to the Skills Development Fund, which is used to support workforce upgrading programmes and to provide training grants to you when you send your employees for training under the National Continuing Education Training system.

Learn more

Rates

How much SDL do you need to pay?

Compute total SDL payable

Step 1: Compute SDL for each employee

The levy payable for each employee is at 0.25% of the monthly total wages. The minimum payable is $2 for an employee earning less than $800 a month and the maximum is $11.25 for an employee earning more than $4,500 a month.

Step 2: Sum up the total SDL for all your employees

Add up the SDL calculated for each employee and then round the total amount down to the nearest dollar.

You can use the SSG’s online calculator to help you do this.

Use SDL calculator

Need an example?

	Total wages for the calendar month	SDL payable
Employee A	$609.50	$2 (Minimum of $2 is payable because the total wages are less than $800)
Employee B	$2,000	$5
Employee C	$4,500	$11.25
Employee D	$4,502.03	$11.25 (Maximum of $11.25 is payable because the total wages are more than $4,500)
Employee E	$10,000	$11.25 (Maximum of $11.25 is payable because the total wages are more than $4,500)
Total SDL		$40.75
Total SDL payable		$40 (Rounded down to the nearest dollar)

Payment matters

Payment and refunds

Payment

Pay SDL together with your CPF contributions

You can use the SDL calculator to calculate the SDL payments for all your employees and pay the total SDL payable when making your CPF contributions.

However, if you’re using the auto-computation feature under CPF EZPay, SDL is auto-computed for all Singapore Citizen and Singapore Permanent Resident employees. You’ll need to input the SDL payable for foreign employees in CPF EZPay.

Use SDL calculator

Pay SDL directly to SSG if you only hire foreign employees

If you hire only foreign employees, please make your SDL payment directly to SSG.

Pay SDL to SSG

Refund

Overpaid your SDL?

If you’ve overpaid your SDL, you can request a refund from SSG.

Find out more

Reminder

It’s important to pay on time. If you pay the SDL late, you may have to pay a penalty of 10% on the outstanding amount each year.

FAQs

Common questions

How do I back pay the Skills Development Levy (SDL) which was omitted?

Which categories of employees or workers are exempted from Skills Development Levy (SDL)?

How do I calculate Skills Development Levy (SDL)?

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Employer obligations

Skills Development Levy

What is SDL?

How SDL works

How much SDL do you need to pay?

Compute total SDL payable

Payment and refunds

Payment

Refund

Common questions

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Employer obligations

Skills Development Levy

What is SDL?

How SDL works

How much SDL do you need to pay?

Compute total SDL payable

Payment and refunds

Payment

Refund

Common questions