Set up Skills Development Levy payments
The Skills Development Levy (SDL) is collected together with your CPF submission — a small monthly levy of 0.25% of monthly wages per employee, subject to a minimum of $2 and a cap of $11.25, funding SkillsFuture and workforce training initiatives.
The Skills Development Levy (SDL) is collected together with your CPF submission — a small monthly levy of 0.25% of monthly wages per employee, subject to a minimum of $2 and a cap of $11.25, funding SkillsFuture and workforce training initiatives.
It rides along with your CPF submission, so it's easy to assume it's covered — but unpaid SDL accrues as its own arrears and can be pursued the same way unpaid CPF can, even though the per-employee amount is small.
Who this is for
Any venue with employees, including work permit and S Pass holders who aren't CPF-eligible.
Applies to all employees, local and foreign — unlike CPF, there's no citizen/PR restriction.
Watch out for
- Assuming SDL only applies to CPF-eligible staff — it applies to every employee, including work permit and S Pass holders who don't get CPF contributions.
- Treating it as optional because the per-employee amount is small — it's still a statutory levy, collected and enforced the same way as CPF arrears.
- Leaving it out of payroll budgeting entirely, since it rides along with the CPF submission rather than appearing as its own line item until you look closely.
Sources
- CPF Board — Skills Development Levy checked 2026-09-08
See also
This is item 31 of 36 in the free Singapore Launch Checklist. See the whole list →