Thinking of opening an SRS account before 31 December? It's a bank account under the Supplementary Retirement Scheme, and if you're a tax resident, every dollar you put in comes off your taxable income for that year. Citizens and PRs can put in up to S$15,300 a year, and foreigners up to S$35,700. At your retirement age, only half of each withdrawal is taxed. Take it out earlier and it's taxed in full, plus a 5% penalty. So SRS suits money you won't need before you retire.
The Supplementary Retirement Scheme sits on top of CPF. CPF contributions are largely mandatory and locked to set accounts; SRS is voluntary and you decide both how much goes in and what it buys. The idea is simple: put off some income tax now, and pay less of it later.
Three things happen when you use an SRS account. Your contribution is deducted from your chargeable income for that Year of Assessment, so you pay less tax this year. Whatever you invest inside the account grows without being taxed along the way. And when you withdraw at or after the statutory retirement age, only 50% of each withdrawal counts as taxable income.
That 50% rule is the quiet engine of the whole scheme. If your income in retirement is low, the taxed half of a modest withdrawal can fall inside the 0% band. Then you got the relief on the way in and pay little or nothing on the way out. Work out your likely marginal rate first with an income tax calculator before you decide how hard to push contributions.
The yearly cap depends on whether you're a citizen, a PR or a foreigner. The caps below apply to money you put in during 2026, which comes off your income for Year of Assessment 2027.
One detail trips people up every December. The money has to reach your SRS account by 31 December, or by your operator's earlier cut-off if it sets one, to count for that year. Miss it and the relief moves to the next year.
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cap, Citizen or PR | S$15,300 | Counts as tax relief for the year contributed |
| Annual cap, Foreigner | S$35,700 | Foreigners don't pay into CPF |
| Personal income tax relief cap | S$80,000 | SRS relief sits inside this total, not on top of it |
| Contribution deadline for the year | 31 December | Money must be in by year-end to count for that YA |
The saving is roughly your contribution times your marginal tax rate, a little less if the contribution reaches down into a lower band. SRS is not a rebate; it shrinks the slice of income taxed at your top rate. So the higher your income, the more each contributed dollar is worth.
The table below shows the rough first-year saving from a full S$15,300 contribution at three income levels, using Singapore's resident rates. Treat these as 'around' figures; your own reliefs change the exact number.
| Chargeable income band | Marginal rate | Approx. tax saved |
|---|---|---|
| S$40,001 - S$80,000 | 7% | ~S$1,071 |
| S$80,001 - S$120,000 | 11.5% | ~S$1,760 |
| S$120,001 - S$160,000 | 15% | ~S$2,295 |
| S$160,001 - S$200,000 | 18% | ~S$2,754 |
| S$320,001 - S$500,000 | 22% | ~S$3,366 |
The first S$20,000 of chargeable income is taxed at 0%, so below that an SRS contribution saves you nothing and still locks the money up until your retirement age. The SRS calculator shows where the saving starts at your income. SRS also stops helping once your other reliefs reach the S$80,000 cap: the money still goes in, but the deduction doesn't.
Update, 14 October 2026: the statutory retirement age rose to 64 on 1 July 2026. A first SRS contribution made now fixes your withdrawal age at 64, not 63. The age that matters is the statutory retirement age in force when you make your first SRS contribution.
IRAS applies 64 to anyone whose first SRS contribution falls on or after 1 July 2026. If your first contribution landed while the age was still 63, 63 stays your withdrawal age for life. A later rise in the retirement age won't move it. An account you open and fund today starts at 64.
The 10-year spreading window is the part to plan around. Spread a S$400,000 balance over 10 years and you withdraw S$40,000 annually, of which S$20,000 is taxable. Stack it with other low retirement income and much of that can sit in low or zero tax bands. Pull the whole lot in one year and you risk pushing yourself into a much higher rate.
It stays cash. Putting money into SRS doesn't invest it, and cash in the account earns only the small interest the operator pays on SRS cash until you buy something with it.
What it sits in is your call, and the tax rules stay the same. Growth inside the account isn't taxed, and half of each withdrawal at your retirement age is. Our guide to investing SRS money goes through what the account can hold. The tax relief guide shows where SRS sits among your other reliefs.
You don't have to pick between SRS and a CPF cash top-up: you can do both in the same year, and both count towards the S$80,000 relief cap. Our SRS vs CPF top-up comparison sets the two side by side, and the SSB vs T-bill vs fixed deposit breakdown explains how those three work.
Money you might need before your retirement age is better kept out of SRS, since taking it out early costs the full tax plus 5%. Our glossary explains how tax relief works if the term is new.
Below roughly S$20,000 of chargeable income you pay no income tax, so an SRS contribution buys no relief while locking money away for years. SRS pays off most for people whose marginal rate is meaningful, generally above the S$40,000 income band, where the dollar-for-dollar deduction translates into real tax saved.
The whole amount is added to your taxable income for that year, and a 5% penalty is charged on top. That applies before your retirement age unless you have a reason such as medical grounds. Together they usually wipe out the relief you got going in.
Yes, if you have not contributed yet. The statutory retirement age rose to 64 on 1 July 2026, and your personal SRS withdrawal age is fixed at the age in force when you make your first contribution. A first contribution made before that date keeps the age in force when you made it, such as 62 or 63; one made on or after it gets 64. If you already have an SRS account with a contribution in it, nothing changes for you.
No. You can hold only one SRS account at a time, with one of the three bank operators. You can transfer your account from one operator to another, but you cannot run two in parallel or split a single year's contribution across providers.
No. Your SRS account sits with one of the three bank operators, and IRAS gives the tax relief. It's separate from your CPF accounts, and you can make an SRS contribution and a CPF cash top-up in the same year.
By 31 December, or by your operator's earlier cut-off if it has one. Money that lands in 2026 comes off your income for Year of Assessment 2027. IRAS adds the relief from the operator's records, so you don't claim it yourself.
No. Once you start withdrawing at your retirement age, or on medical grounds, IRAS doesn't let you put any more money into the account.
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.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).