CPF vs INPS: The Real Employer Cost of a Salary in Singapore and Italy

A Singapore finance team budgeting its first Italian hire usually starts from a familiar number: gross salary plus 17% CPF. In Italy that shortcut does not work. The contribution base, the rate, the ceiling and who pays are all different. This guide explains why, and how to compare like for like.

CPF in Singapore  

CPF is a mandatory savings scheme for Singapore citizens and permanent residents. From 1 January 2026, for employees aged 55 and below earning more than S$750 a month, the rates are:

• employer: 17% of wages;
• employee: 20% of wages;
• total: 37%.

Contributions are capped. The Ordinary Wage ceiling is S$8,000 a month from 1 January 2026, the last step of the increase that began in 2023. The annual salary ceiling stays at S$102,000, and it limits contributions on Additional Wages such as bonuses. Rates are lower for older employees.

Two points matter most for a cost comparison:

• Foreigners on work passes do not contribute. An Employment Pass holder in Singapore costs the employer no CPF.
• High earners are capped. On a salary of S$15,000 a month, the employer’s CPF is 17% of S$8,000, not of S$15,000.

Income tax in Singapore is paid by the employee under assessment by IRAS, not withheld monthly through payroll in most cases.

INPS in Italy  

INPS is Italy’s national social security institution. Contributions fund pensions, unemployment benefit, sick and maternity pay and other benefits. The key differences from CPF:

• They apply to every employee. Nationality does not matter. An Italian, an EU citizen or a non-EU national working in Italy is enrolled in INPS.
• They start from the first euro. There is no lower threshold like the S$750 band.
• The employer pays most of it. The employer share is roughly 30% of gross pay for a typical office employee, and the employee share is 9.19% (plus 1% on pay above €56,224 a year in 2026).
• The ceiling is high and limited. A maximum contribution base exists only for employees who first started contributing after 1995, and it sits well above typical salaries: €122,295 a year in 2026 (INPS circular 6/2026).

On top of INPS, the employer pays INAIL accident insurance, at a rate that depends on the risk class of the work. For office roles it is low.

The extra lines a Singapore budget misses  

Two items in Italy have no direct CPF equivalent:

13th month. Every CCNL includes a 13th monthly payment (tredicesima), paid in December. Some add a 14th. If you agree an annual gross salary (RAL), these are part of it; if you think in monthly salary, add them.

TFR. About one-thirteenth-and-a-half of annual pay accrues every year as deferred pay (art. 2120 Civil Code), paid when employment ends for any reason. It is a cost of roughly 7% of pay. See Retrenchment benefits in Singapore vs TFR in Italy .

Side by side  

A worked comparison  

Take an engineer on S$120,000 a year, S$10,000 a month, who is a Singapore citizen aged 30.

• In Singapore, employer CPF is 17% of S$8,000, so S$1,360 a month, or about 13.6% of salary. If the same person held an Employment Pass, employer CPF would be zero.

Now take an engineer in Italy on a RAL of €60,000.

• Employer INPS at about 30% adds around €18,000.
• TFR at 6.91% adds around €4,150.
• INAIL adds a small amount for an office role (below 0.5%).
• Total employer cost is roughly €82,000–€84,000, about 36–40% above RAL (assumptions: employer INPS of about 29–32% for an office employee in industry or commerce; the RAL already includes the 13th and any 14th month).

So the on-cost in Italy is roughly three times the Singapore percentage for a citizen employee, and the difference is even larger compared with a foreign pass holder. Use the cost calculator for your own numbers.

Net pay also differs  

Italian employees see much bigger deductions from gross pay than Singapore employees: INPS employee contributions, progressive IRPEF income tax withheld monthly, and regional and municipal surcharges. A Singapore candidate’s take-home is high because income tax is relatively low and paid later. An Italian candidate compares offers in RAL and expects net pay to be well below gross. When you set salary bands, compare net to net and total cost to total cost, not gross to gross.

Currency and payroll  

Italian payroll runs monthly in euro, with contributions paid to INPS by the 16th of the following month through the F24 form, and an annual certification (CU) issued to each employee. If your budget is in SGD, fix a conversion assumption and a buffer for exchange rate movements.

Common questions from Singapore teams  

Can an Italian employee opt out of INPS? No. Contributions are mandatory and cannot be waived by contract.

Do expatriates from Singapore pay INPS? If they work in Italy under an Italian employment contract, generally yes. Singapore and Italy do not have a social security agreement that would let them stay in CPF instead.

What this means if you hire through an EOR  

The EOR runs Italian payroll: it calculates INPS, INAIL, IRPEF withholding, TFR and the 13th month, pays contributions on time and issues payslips. You receive one monthly invoice covering salary, all employer costs and the EOR fee. With HiringItaly the fee is €250 per employee per month, all-inclusive.

What to decide before the offer:

• the RAL in euro and whether it includes a 14th month;
• any bonus, and when it is paid;
• benefits such as meal vouchers, which can be tax-efficient in Italy.

Compare the full framework on Italy vs Singapore , see how pay terms go into the contract in Italian employment contracts , and read Employment Act coverage vs Italian CCNL for how CCNL minimum pay works.

The bottom line  

CPF is a capped, citizen-only cost. INPS is an uncapped, universal one, and TFR and the 13th month come on top. Budget Italian hires on total employer cost, not gross salary.

Want a quote for a specific salary? Contact us .

General information, not legal or tax advice.