On 30 September 2026, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) began crediting the Senior Employment Credit (SEC), the Enabling Employment Credit (EEC) and the CPF Transition Offset (CTO) directly into eligible employers’ bank accounts. For most Singapore SMEs this is the single largest unsolicited government payout of the year, yet many business owners only notice it when an unfamiliar “Senior Employment Credit / Enabling Employment Credit / CPF Transition Offset” line item shows up in their GIRO statement, or a “GOVT” credit appears via PayNow Corporate.
Unlike the EDGE grant or the Enterprise Sustainability Programme, there is no application form for SEC, EEC or CTO. IRAS calculates the amount from payroll and CPF contribution records an employer has already filed, and pays out automatically twice a year. This guide explains what each scheme pays, who qualifies, how the September 2026 payout actually lands in a company’s account, and how to treat the money for tax purposes.
What SEC, EEC and CTO Are, and Why They Exist Together
SEC, EEC and CTO are three separate disbursement schemes that IRAS administers and pays out on the same schedule, which is why employers tend to think of them as one combined payout. Each addresses a different cost pressure created by Singapore’s ageing workforce and inclusive hiring policies.
Senior Employment Credit (SEC)
SEC offsets part of the wage cost of employing older Singapore Citizens. It was introduced to help employers absorb the higher payroll cost that comes with the progressive increases to the Retirement Age and Re-employment Age, and has been extended to run until 31 December 2027.
Enabling Employment Credit (EEC)
EEC provides a wage offset to employers who hire Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents with disabilities, where the employee is supported by SG Enable. It runs until 2028 and includes an enhanced rate for employers who hire a person with disabilities who has been out of work for at least six months.
CPF Transition Offset (CTO)
CTO covers half of each year’s increase in employer CPF contribution rates for Singapore Citizen and Permanent Resident employees above age 55 to 70. As the statutory CPF contribution schedule for senior workers continues its planned step-up, CTO cushions the year-on-year cost increase rather than removing it. CTO is scheduled to run until 2027.
Who Qualifies, and Who Is Excluded
All three schemes share a common eligibility backbone: CPF contributions must have been paid for the employee, and paid on time, for the qualifying wage period. Beyond that, each scheme has its own age and income conditions.
| Scheme | Who the employee must be | Monthly wage ceiling |
|---|---|---|
| SEC | Singapore Citizen aged 60 and above | Below S$4,000 |
| EEC | Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident with disabilities, aged 13 and above, supported by SG Enable | Below S$4,000 |
| CTO | Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident aged above 55 to 70 | Calculated on wages up to the CPF salary ceiling |
An employee who qualifies for EEC is not separately counted for SEC in the same month, so the two schemes do not stack for the same individual. Certain payees are excluded altogether regardless of age or income: business owners drawing wages from their own company, sole proprietors or partners trading in a personal capacity without a Unique Entity Number (such as hawkers), government agencies, international organisations, and businesses that are not registered in Singapore.
How Much Each Scheme Pays (2026 and 2027 Rates)
SEC payout rates
For wages paid from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2027, SEC pays up to 7% of an eligible employee’s monthly wage, tiered by age:
| Employee age | Payout on wages up to S$3,000 | Payout on wages above S$3,000 and below S$4,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 60 to 64 | 2% of wage | S$240 minus (0.06 x wage) |
| 65 to 68 | 4% of wage | S$480 minus (0.12 x wage) |
| 69 and above | 7% of wage | S$840 minus (0.21 x wage) |
EEC payout rates
EEC pays up to 20% of monthly wage, capped at S$400 per employee per month:
| Monthly wage | Payout |
|---|---|
| Up to S$2,000 | 20% of wage |
| Above S$2,000 to S$3,000 | S$400 flat |
| Above S$3,000 and below S$4,000 | S$1,600 minus (0.4 x wage) |
Employers who hire a person with disabilities who has not been employed in the preceding six months receive an additional payout at the same rates, on top of the standard EEC, for up to the first nine months of that person’s employment. This is intended to offset the higher onboarding and job-redesign cost of hiring someone re-entering the workforce.
CTO payout rates
CTO is calculated as half of the year’s increase in employer CPF contribution rates for the relevant age band, applied to wages up to the CPF salary ceiling. For 2026, employer CPF contribution rates rose by 0.5 percentage point for employees above age 55 to 60 and above age 60 to 65, so CTO covers 0.25 percentage point for each of those two bands. Contribution rates for the above age 65 to 70 band did not change in 2026, so there is no CTO payable for that band this round.
How the September 2026 Payout Actually Works
There is no application for any of the three schemes. IRAS determines eligibility and the payout amount from the employer’s CPF contribution records and notifies the employer by letter, with an electronic copy made available on myTax Portal.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | IRAS computes eligibility from CPF contribution data already filed for the wage period; no employer submission is needed |
| 2 | Eligible employers receive a notification letter stating the computed amount, with an e-copy on myTax Portal |
| 3 | Payment is credited by GIRO (if a GIRO arrangement with IRAS was in place as at 7 September 2026) or by PayNow Corporate (if registered as at 25 September 2026) |
| 4 | GIRO credits appear in the employer’s bank statement as “Senior Employment Credit / Enabling Employment Credit / CPF Transition Offset”; PayNow Corporate credits appear as “GOVT” |
| 5 | No cheques are issued; an employer with neither GIRO nor PayNow Corporate must sign up for one of the two before the next payout round to receive future payouts |
The September payout round covers wages paid from January to June of the same year. Wages paid from July to December are picked up in the following March’s payout round. This twice-yearly rhythm means a company’s payroll and CPF filing accuracy in the first half of the year directly determines what lands in its account each September, with the second half settled the following March.
Tax Treatment of the Payouts
SEC, EEC and CTO payouts are taxable in the year they are received. For a company, the amount is declared as income in the relevant Form C-S or Form C filing. For individuals, sole proprietors and partnerships, IRAS adds the payout automatically to the tax assessment, so there is no separate declaration step for that group. Businesses that also receive EDGE grant disbursements, the SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit or other co-funding support should keep a simple schedule mapping each government payout to the financial year it was received in, since the tax treatment and the accounting treatment are not always identical across schemes.
Practical Steps for Singapore Employers
- Check whether the company has an active GIRO arrangement with IRAS, or is registered for PayNow Corporate, well before the next cut-off date; a lapsed GIRO instruction or an unregistered PayNow Corporate account is the most common reason a payout is delayed rather than lost.
- Reconcile the amount against the notification letter and myTax Portal record rather than against payroll software estimates, since IRAS computes the figure from filed CPF data, not from the employer’s own payroll ledger.
- Flag the payout to the company’s tax preparer at the point it is received, so it is captured correctly in the current year’s Form C-S or Form C rather than being missed and corrected later.
- For companies budgeting cash flow around CPF contribution step-ups for senior staff, treat CTO as a partial offset, not a full one; the employer still bears the other half of each year’s rate increase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need to apply for SEC, EEC or CTO?
No. All three are computed and paid automatically from CPF contribution records already on file with IRAS. There is no application form.
Can one employee qualify for both SEC and EEC in the same month?
No. An employee who qualifies for EEC in a given month is not also counted under SEC for that month.
What if our company does not have GIRO or PayNow Corporate set up?
The company will not receive the payout by cheque. It needs to set up a GIRO arrangement with IRAS or register for PayNow Corporate before the relevant cut-off date for the next payout round.
Are these payouts taxable?
Yes. Companies declare them as income in Form C-S or Form C for the year received. For individuals, sole proprietors and partnerships, IRAS includes the amount automatically in the tax assessment.
Does hiring a business owner’s own family member qualify for these payouts?
Wages paid to business owners themselves, or to a sole proprietor trading in a personal capacity, are excluded even where CPF contributions were made through the entity. Eligibility depends on the specific scheme’s age, residency and income conditions being met by a genuine employee.
For a full scheme-by-scheme breakdown of eligibility history and background, see our earlier overview of SEC, EEC and CTO. For how these payouts sit alongside CPF contribution planning more broadly, see our guide to senior worker CPF contribution rates and our Singapore payroll and CPF guide for employers. Employers managing multiple government payouts in the same cycle may also find our SME Cash Grant guide and our Progressive Wage Credit Scheme guide useful, since PWCS is disbursed on a related but separate schedule.
For the official scheme page, see IRAS: Senior Employment Credit (SEC), Enabling Employment Credit (EEC) and CPF Transition Offset (CTO). For the statutory CPF contribution rate schedule underlying the CTO calculation, see the Ministry of Manpower’s press release on senior worker CPF contribution support. For Form C-S and Form C filing requirements that govern how companies declare these payouts, see IRAS: Form C-S/Form C Filing.
Raffles Corporate Services helps Singapore SMEs track government grant and credit disbursements alongside their annual filing calendar, so payouts like SEC, EEC and CTO are reconciled correctly and declared on time.
The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services