The CDAC contribution is the line on your payslip that quietly takes between 50 cents and $3 a month if you are a Chinese Singaporean or PR who works. It funds the Chinese Development Assistance Council, one of four community self-help groups that the CPF Board collects for alongside your CPF. The amount is tiny and tiered by your monthly wage, it is deducted automatically by default, and you can change it or stop it entirely by going to CDAC directly. Here are the exact 2026 rates, who pays which fund, and the steps to opt out if you would rather not.
CDAC stands for the Chinese Development Assistance Council. Since 1 September 1992, every working Chinese Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident contributes to the CDAC Fund each month based on their wage. The money pays for bursaries, tuition schemes, skills training and family assistance aimed at lower-income Chinese households.
It is not a tax and it is not part of CPF. It is a community self-help group (SHG) donation that the CPF Board happens to collect on CDAC's behalf, which is why it sits next to your CPF deduction on the payslip rather than under taxes. Your employer works out the right band from your gross wages, deducts it, and remits it together with your CPF each month.
Because the default is opt-in by birth community rather than by choice, most people never notice it until they read a payslip closely. The good news is the ceiling is $3 a month even on the highest salaries, so the lifetime cost is small. If you want the bigger picture of everything coming out of your pay, our take-home salary calculator shows CPF, SHG and tax side by side.
The rates below are the current CDAC bands published by the CPF Board and CDAC. They have not changed for several years, and are current as of October 2026. The contribution is based on your total gross wages for the month, which includes salary, overtime, allowances, commissions and bonuses.
| Monthly gross wages | Monthly CDAC contribution |
|---|---|
| $2,000 or less | $0.50 |
| Above $2,000 to $3,500 | $1.00 |
| Above $3,500 to $5,000 | $1.50 |
| Above $5,000 to $7,500 | $2.00 |
| Above $7,500 | $3.00 |
There are four self-help groups, and which one you contribute to depends on your community, not your choice. The CPF Board routes the deduction based on the race shown on your NRIC. Muslims pay MBMF whatever their listed race, and a Chinese or Indian Muslim pays MBMF on top of CDAC or SINDA by default, with the option to opt out of either fund by sending an opt-out form to that fund's agency. If your NRIC shows a double-barrelled race, the first race listed decides the fund.
Chinese employees go to CDAC. Eurasian employees go to the Eurasian Community Fund (ECF). Indian and other South Asian employees go to SINDA. Muslim employees go to the Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund (MBMF) based on religion. Foreign workers are not in CDAC at all, but Muslim foreign employees still contribute to MBMF, and Employment Pass holders of Indian descent contribute to SINDA by default, the same as citizens and PRs.
If you are not Chinese, the rate you pay sits in a different table. The four funds set their own bands, and MBMF and SINDA climb noticeably higher at the top end than CDAC does. These are the current rates as of October 2026, collected the same way and remitted with CPF.
| Monthly gross wages | MBMF | SINDA | ECF |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 or less | $3.00 | $1.00 | $2.00 |
| Above $1,000 to $1,500 | $4.50 | $3.00 | $4.00 |
| Above $1,500 to $2,000 | $4.50 | $5.00 | $6.00 |
| Above $2,000 to $2,500 | $6.50 | $5.00 | $6.00 |
| Above $2,500 to $3,000 | $6.50 | $7.00 | $9.00 |
| Above $3,000 to $4,000 | $15.00 | $7.00 | $9.00 |
| Above $4,000 to $4,500 | $19.50 | $7.00 | $12.00 |
| Above $4,500 to $6,000 | $19.50 | $9.00 | $12.00 |
| Above $6,000 to $7,000 | $22.00 | $9.00 | $12.00 |
| Above $7,000 to $7,500 | $22.00 | $9.00 | $16.00 |
| Above $7,500 to $8,000 | $22.00 | $12.00 | $16.00 |
| Above $8,000 to $10,000 | $24.00 | $12.00 | $16.00 |
| Above $10,000 to $15,000 | $26.00 | $18.00 | $20.00 |
| Above $15,000 | $26.00 | $30.00 | $20.00 |
Update, 14 October 2026: this guide said SHG contributions are not tax-deductible. IRAS lists CDAC, SINDA and ECF amounts deducted from your pay as donations that qualify for tax deduction. Your employer computes the band from your gross wages for that month, deducts the cents, and pays it to the CPF Board together with the company's CPF submission. The Board then passes the money to the right self-help group. If you start or leave a job partway through a month, the employer pro-rates the contribution against the wages actually paid for that period.
Hold more than one job and the default is that every employer deducts. CDAC lets you contribute through one company and opt out at the others, which avoids paying twice; ECF, SINDA and MBMF contributors should check the same point with their own fund. The mechanics sit right next to your CPF line, so if you want to sanity-check the CPF figures too, our CPF contribution calculator breaks down the employer and employee splits by age.
One point that trips people up at tax time: IRAS counts the CDAC, SINDA and ECF amounts taken from your pay as donations that qualify for tax deduction. If your employer is in IRAS's Auto-Inclusion Scheme, they are already in your tax assessment; if not, you claim them in your own return. At a few dollars a month the saving is small, so if reducing taxable income is your goal, a SRS top-up or CPF cash top-up does far more.
Contribution is the default, not a legal requirement, so you can stop it, pay less, or pay more. The change goes through the self-help group's own form.
To opt out of CDAC, fill in CDAC's Opt-Out Form and send it to CDAC. CDAC sends no acknowledgement, and your employer can stop the deduction as soon as the form is sent and should keep a copy on file. MBMF works differently: you send MUIS a Change Application Form, MUIS issues a certificate within two weeks, and you then tell your employer. For ECF and SINDA, contact the fund for its form.
Before you opt out to save a couple of dollars, weigh what the money does: it pays for CDAC's bursaries, tuition schemes and family assistance. If your aim is to genuinely move the needle on your finances, the lever is your CPF and investments, not 50 cents a month. Our CPF glossary entry explains how the mandatory contributions that sit beside CDAC actually build your retirement and housing savings.
No. Contribution is automatic by default for working Chinese Singaporeans and PRs, but it is voluntary in the sense that you can opt out or change the amount by submitting the relevant form to CDAC. It is not a tax and there is no penalty for opting out.
It ranges from 50 cents a month if you earn $2,000 or less, up to $3 a month if you earn above $7,500. The amount is tiered across five wage bands and is based on your total gross wages for the month including bonuses and allowances.
Yes. IRAS lists CDAC, SINDA and ECF amounts deducted from your salary as donations that qualify for tax deduction. If your employer is in the Auto-Inclusion Scheme for employment income, the donation is included in your tax assessment automatically; if not, you claim it in your own return.
By default every employer deducts the SHG amount, so you could end up paying twice. CDAC lets you contribute through one employer and opt out at the others by submitting its opt-out form, which stops the duplicate deduction. If you pay ECF, SINDA or MBMF, check the same point with your fund.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
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