Investing · IRAS and MOF rules
SRS account: DBS, OCBC and UOB compared, tax saved for YA 2027 and the withdrawal rules
What paying into SRS saves you for YA 2027, what it costs when you take it out, your withdrawal age, and the three banks that run SRS side by side, from IRAS, MOF and the banks.
In short
- Up to $15,300 a year (citizens and PRs) or $35,700 (foreigners) comes off your taxable income, within the $80,000 cap on all reliefs.
- Pay in by 31 Dec 2026 to count for YA 2027: 49 days left.
- There is nothing to claim: your bank sends IRAS what you paid in, and IRAS adds the relief to your tax bill.
- Your withdrawal age is fixed by the day of your first contribution: 64 for a first contribution today.
- From that age, only half of each withdrawal is taxed, spread over up to 10 years. Before it, all of it is taxed, plus a 5% penalty.
- Cash left in the account earns 0.05% a year at DBS, OCBC and UOB alike.
The calculator above puts your SRS money through the whole trip: the tax it saves next year, the tax on it when you take it out from your retirement age, and what happens if you take it out early. Everything else on this page answers the questions that decide whether that trip pays: which bank, which age, and how fast to take it out.
DBS, OCBC and UOB side by side
IRAS: “SRS accounts are managed by 3 bank operators”, and you can hold one SRS account at a time (opening a second is an offence). Cash left in the account earns the same 0.05% a year at all three, so the real differences are how you pay in, what you can buy and how you take money out.
| DBS / POSB | OCBC | UOB | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening | In the digibank app or online, 7am to 10pm daily (to 7pm on the last day of the month), or at a branch with your NRIC or passport. DBS | Online, or at a branch with your NRIC or pass and proof of address. You need no SRS account with any other bank. OCBC | Online with Myinfo (about 4 working days), or at a branch. Foreigners can’t apply online, and moving an SRS account to UOB is done at a branch. UOB |
| Paying in | A funds transfer to your SRS account in digibank, or at a branch. DBS | OCBC internet banking or app (“Make a SRS Contribution”), cash at a branch, or a cheque. Not from another bank’s app; no standing instruction. In January, OCBC asks you to pay in from mid-January. OCBC | UOB’s TMRW app (“Transfer Now”, Monday to Saturday, 7am to 10pm), Personal Internet Banking or a branch. Not from another bank’s app. UOB |
| Cash in the account earns | 0.05% a year, on DBS’s SRS page. DBS | 0.05% a year, in OCBC’s own article of 26 Oct 2026 (its SRS terms don’t state a rate). OCBC | 0.05% a year, below S$10,000 and above, on UOB’s deposit rates page. UOB |
| Account fees | “All SRS account transaction charges are waived until further notice”, except S$2 for each Savings Bond application or redemption. Charges from others (CDP, fund sales charges) still apply. DBS | S$2 for each Savings Bond application or redemption. OCBC’s SRS terms list no other fee amounts; they let OCBC charge custody and other fees “from time to time”. OCBC | Waived “until further notice” except gold (S$5 a certificate, plus S$72 a kilobar a year), failed or cancelled trades (S$5 each) and transfers out (below). GST on top; CDP’s charges are extra. UOB |
| What you can buy | Government Securities and Savings Bonds, fixed deposits (S$ and foreign currency), shares, single-premium insurance and unit trusts, through digibank, digiWealth or a DBS Vickers account. DBS | OCBC’s page shows endowment insurance, unit trusts, structured deposits and Singapore Government Securities. OCBC | Unit trusts, insurance, stocks, ETFs, REITs, Savings Bonds and more. UOB |
| Taking money out | At a DBS or POSB branch, for early and penalty-free withdrawals alike. DBS | Not stated on OCBC’s SRS page. OCBC | UOB’s page doesn’t say how to withdraw (its FAQ points to IRAS), but its pop-up on early withdrawals gives the cost: all of it taxed, plus a 5% penalty. UOB |
| Moving banks | Into DBS: at a branch, about 7 working days. Out of DBS: no fee given on its page. DBS | Not stated on OCBC’s SRS page. OCBC | Moving your account out of UOB: S$3 per 1,000 shares or units (at most S$30 a holding), S$3 a holding for other investments. UOB |
Each line quotes or sums up the bank’s own page, linked beside it, read 12 Nov 2026. You can hold one SRS account at a time, with one of these three banks. No bank pays us, and there are no affiliate links on this page.
Offers running now
OCBC, to 30 Nov 2026 (18 days left). Cash of S$10 (S$1,000 to S$4,999 paid in), S$25 (S$5,000 to S$9,999) or S$50 (S$10,000 or more), for a new OCBC SRS account opened and paid into from an OCBC account in the OCBC app.
The catch: Only the first 800 customers; moving an SRS account from another bank to OCBC does not count; paid by 31 Jan 2027. OCBC’s web page shows the middle tier as “S$1,000 to S$4,999” twice; the terms say S$5,000 to S$9,999. Source: OCBC’s terms, terms 1.1, 2.1 and 2.4, read 12 Nov 2026.
UOB, to 11 Dec 2026 (29 days left). Shopping vouchers of S$30 (S$5,000 to S$9,999 paid in) or S$40 (S$10,000 or more) for opening a UOB SRS account, or moving one to UOB, and paying in by 11 Dec 2026.
The catch: S$5,000 is the least that counts. What you pay in still counts against your yearly limit. Source: UOB’s terms, terms 2.1.1 to 2.1.4, read 12 Nov 2026.
UOB, to 30 Dec 2026 (48 days left). A further S$50 in vouchers for putting at least S$10,000 of SRS money into a unit trust sold by UOB by 30 Dec 2026.
The catch: The fund must carry a sales charge of at least 0.80%: on S$10,000 that is at least S$80 in charges for S$50 in vouchers. Source: UOB’s terms, term 2.2.1, read 12 Nov 2026.
A voucher or a few dollars of cash is small beside the tax at stake: pick the bank for where you will invest and how you will take the money out. Offers drop off this list the day after they end.
What the banks’ pages don’t say, or get wrong
- OCBC’s SRS page says to pay in by 31 December 2026 “to qualify for tax relief in the 2026 Year of Assessment”. IRAS: money paid in during 2026 counts for YA 2027. Its page also says the information is “as at 15 November 2021”.
- DBS’s page says the age that applies is the one “in the year you made your first SRS deposit”. IRAS ties it to the day: a first contribution on 30 Jun 2026 locked in 63, one on 1 Jul 2026 locked in 64.
- UOB’s page gives two deadlines for next year’s relief: one panel says pay in “by 30 December this year”, while its steps for the TMRW app say 31 December, before a 7pm cut-off. IRAS’s date is 31 December, so paying UOB by 30 December is safe either way. Its banner also still reads “Make the most of your tax reliefs before 2026”.
Your withdrawal age
The age at which you can take money out without the 5% penalty is the statutory retirement age on the day you made your first contribution, not the day you opened the account and not today’s age. That is why people put in a small amount early: it fixes the age before the next rise. Pick when you first paid in and when you were born.
The ages by date of first contribution
- 1 Apr 2001 to 30 Jun 2022 first contribution in this period: 62
- 1 Jul 2022 to 30 Jun 2026 first contribution in this period: 63
- From 1 Jul 2026 first contribution from this day: 64
64 and its start date: IRAS (“Withdrawals are penalty-free only if they take place on or after the statutory retirement age (64 effective from 1 Jul 2026) that was prevailing at the time of your first SRS contribution”) and MOM. 63 from 1 Jul 2022: IRAS’s page as saved on 13 Jun 2024 (Internet Archive). 62 before that: IRAS’s worked examples, whose members first paid in when the age was 62; the scheme began in 2001. IRAS says a later rise in the retirement age, “e.g. up to age 65”, will not affect anyone who has already made a first contribution. No date for 65 is given on IRAS’s page. Read 12 Nov 2026.
Taking it out: one year or ten
From your withdrawal age, half of each withdrawal is added to your income for tax, and you can spread withdrawals over up to 10 years from the first one. Spreading keeps more of each year in the low bands; with no other income, $40,000 a year comes out tax-free, IRAS’s own example. Anything still in the account when the 10 years end is treated as withdrawn in one go.
Tax saved at every salary
What putting the full limit in saves depends on your top tax rate. Below about $40,000 of chargeable income it saves little; from there it saves 7% to 24% of each dollar.
| Pay | Chargeable income | Top rate | Saved | Of each dollar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $35,400 | 3.5% | $387 | 2.5% | |
| $45,800 | 7% | $738.50 | 4.8% | |
| $51,000 | 7% | $920.50 | 6% | |
| $61,400 | 7% | $1,071 | 7% | |
| $77,400 | 7% | $1,071 | 7% | |
| $90,600 | 11.5% | $1,548 | 10.1% | |
| $104,600 | 11.5% | $1,759.50 | 11.5% | |
| $118,600 | 11.5% | $1,759.50 | 11.5% | |
| $158,600 | 15% | $2,295 | 15% | |
| $203,600 | 19% | $2,790 | 18.2% | |
| $278,600 | 19.5% | $2,983.50 | 19.5% | |
| $353,600 | 22% | $3,366 | 22% | |
| $428,600 | 22% | $3,366 | 22% | |
| $578,600 | 23% | $3,519 | 23% |
A citizen aged 35, YA 2027, with CPF and Earned Income Relief only, putting in the full $15,300. Tap a row to open it in the calculator and add your own reliefs.
Taking money out before the age
You can take SRS money out at any time, but before your withdrawal age IRAS taxes all of it, not half, and adds a 5% penalty, unless the reason is one of these: death, medical grounds, bankruptcy, or a foreigner closing the account after at least 10 years. The calculator shows the cost at your own income: for most people it wipes out the tax saved and more.
- Medical grounds: if you are physically or mentally unable to keep working, or have a terminal illness, you can withdraw at any time, half taxed and no penalty. A doctor and you complete IRAS’s form.
- Terminal illness or death: up to $400,000 is tax-free on a full withdrawal, less $40,000 for each year of the 10-year window already used.
- Bankruptcy: all of it is taxed, but no penalty.
- Foreigners: a foreigner who has kept the account for at least 10 years from the first contribution, and has been neither a citizen nor a PR for the 10 years before, can take it all out at once, half taxed and no penalty. The bank keeps back part of it as tax when it pays out: see leaving Singapore.
Who has an SRS account
At the end of 2025 there were 516,376 SRS accounts, 49,527 more than a year before and 294,527 more than five years before. Members had paid in $23.88 billion since the scheme began. 21% of what was in SRS accounts sat as cash, earning 0.05% a year at all three banks; 24% was in shares, REITs and ETFs and 20% in insurance.
Who holds them: 80% citizens, 14% PRs, 6% foreigners. More than half (55%) are aged 18 to 45; 10% are 62 or older.
SRS accounts
Tap or hover on a column to read a year.
What the money is in
Cash was 59% of SRS money in 2001 and has been between 19% and 35% every year since 2003. Insurance has gone from 44% (2002) to 20%; shares, REITs and ETFs from 1% to 24%.
Cash Insurance Shares, REITs, ETFs Unit trusts Bonds, deposits, other
Tap or hover on a column to read a year.
MOF’s figures are “cumulative SRS statistics as at” each December; “total SRS contributions” is MOF’s own label. Shares of the money are of the investment portfolio, as MOF gives them, and may not add to 100% (MOF’s rounding). Source: MOF, SRS statistics (PDF, figures to Dec 2025).
Checked against IRAS and the banks
IRAS publishes worked examples of SRS withdrawals and contributions, and DBS, OCBC and UOB each show a worked tax saving. We run every one through this page’s sums each time it is built: they match 15 of 15.
Show all 15 checks
| The case | They say | Our sums | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRAS example 2: S$40,000 a year for 10 years, no other income IRAS | taxed each year $20,000; tax each year $0 | taxed each year $20,000; tax each year $0 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 8: S$40,000 taken out at 61, retirement age 62 IRAS | taxed $40,000; penalty $2,000 | taxed $40,000; penalty $2,000 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 9: a foreigner takes out S$300,000 after the retirement age IRAS | tax held back $36,000; paid out $264,000 | tax held back $36,000; paid out $264,000 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 9: a PR takes out S$300,000 before the retirement age IRAS | tax held back $72,000; penalty $15,000; paid out $213,000 | tax held back $72,000; penalty $15,000; paid out $213,000 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 3: full withdrawal of S$300,000 on terminal illness, none before IRAS | taxable $0 | taxable $0 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 4: S$400,000 on terminal illness, a year after the first penalty-free withdrawal IRAS | taxable $20,000 | taxable $20,000 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 5: S$400,000 on terminal illness, S$50,000 taken out earlier the same year IRAS | taxable $20,000 | taxable $20,000 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 6: S$200,000 deemed withdrawn on death, none taken out before IRAS | taxable $0 | taxable $0 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 7: S$360,000 deemed withdrawn on death, two years into the window IRAS | taxable $20,000 | taxable $20,000 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 1 (contributions): S$10,000 in, then S$8,000 out, the same year, age 40 IRAS | relief $2,000; taxed $0; penalty $0 | relief $2,000; taxed $0; penalty $0 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 1 (contributions): S$10,000 in, then S$15,000 out, the same year IRAS | relief $0; taxed $5,000; penalty $250 | relief $0; taxed $5,000; penalty $250 | ✓ |
| IRAS example 1 (contributions): S$15,000 out, then S$10,000 in, the same year IRAS | relief $10,000; taxed $15,000; penalty $750 | relief $10,000; taxed $15,000; penalty $750 | ✓ |
| DBS: S$200,000 taken out in one year, no other income DBS | taxed $100,000; tax $5,650 | taxed $100,000; tax $5,650 | ✓ |
| OCBC: S$130,000 income, S$30,000 other reliefs, S$15,300 into SRS OCBC | tax before $5,650; tax after $3,891; tax saved $1,760 | tax before $5,650; tax after $3,891; tax saved $1,760 | ✓ |
| UOB: S$15,300 into SRS brings S$66,000 of chargeable income to S$50,700 UOB | tax saved $1,071 | tax saved $1,071 | ✓ |
OCBC rounds to the dollar, so its case is compared in whole dollars. IRAS’s examples use tax rates of their year; the bands they touch are the same today.
Investing 4 pages
Questions people ask
Why do people put just $1 into SRS?
To fix their withdrawal age. IRAS ties it to the statutory retirement age on the day of your first contribution, and says a later rise “e.g. up to age 65” will not affect you. A first contribution today fixes 64. IRAS also says there is no refund of contributions, so even $1 stays in until you withdraw it.
Is SRS worth it?
It pays when your top tax rate now is higher than the rate on your withdrawals later, and when you leave the money in until your withdrawal age. With no other taxable income in retirement, up to $40,000 a year comes out tax-free, so most of the tax saved is kept. It does not pay if you are likely to need the money before the age: all of it is then taxed, plus 5%. Put your own figures in the calculator above.
What is the SRS contribution limit for 2026?
$15,300 for citizens and PRs, $35,700 for foreigners, the limits MOF has set since 1 January 2016. All your reliefs together, SRS included, can take no more than $80,000 a year off your income.
What is the deadline for SRS tax relief?
Money must reach your SRS account by 31 December to count for the next year of assessment: paid in during 2026, it counts for YA 2027. IRAS adds “or as required by your SRS operator”, so check your bank’s own cut-off; OCBC says contributions sent from its app after 9 pm, or on a Sunday or public holiday, go through the next business day. UOB’s cut-off in its TMRW app is 7 pm on 31 December, though another part of UOB’s page says 30 December, so with UOB pay in by the 30th.
Do I need to claim SRS relief on my tax return?
No. Your bank sends IRAS what you paid in during the year, and IRAS includes the relief in your tax bill for the next year of assessment; it shows on your notice of assessment. If the amount looks wrong, ask your bank first, as IRAS works from what the bank reports.
Is it better to top up SRS or CPF?
Both save tax at the same rate per dollar, within one $80,000 cap, so the difference is what happens to the money. A cash top-up to your own CPF (relief up to $8,000) stays in CPF, earns CPF’s interest and is paid out the CPF way. SRS money you invest yourself and can take out at any time, half taxed from your withdrawal age. The calculator shows both side by side at your income.
Can I have SRS accounts at two banks?
No. IRAS: “You can only have 1 SRS account at any point in time”, and opening accounts with more than one operator is an offence. You can move it: the new bank takes your transfer form and deals with the old one. DBS says this takes about 7 working days; UOB charges for moving an account out (see the table above).
Can I still pay in after I start withdrawing?
No. IRAS says SRS contributions cannot be made once you start penalty-free withdrawals at your retirement age, or withdrawals on medical grounds.
What happens if I pay in and take money out in the same year?
IRAS nets them. Put in $10,000 and then take out $8,000, and you get relief only on $2,000, with no tax or penalty on the $8,000. Take out more than you put in that year and there is no relief, and the extra is taxed with the 5% penalty. Take money out first and pay in later in the year, and the withdrawal is taxed with the penalty while the later contribution still gets relief.
Can my employer pay into my SRS?
Yes. IRAS treats it as part of your pay: your employer declares it on your IR8A, it is taxed as income, and you get SRS relief on it, within the same yearly limit.
What can SRS money buy?
MOF lists shares, unit trusts, bonds, fixed deposits, ETFs and certain life insurance products, but not property. That includes T-bills and Singapore Savings Bonds: see our T-bill calculator, which works for SRS money, and Savings Bond rates. Each of the three banks offers a different shelf; see the table above.
I am a foreigner or PR leaving Singapore. What happens to my SRS?
You can leave it, or withdraw it. When a foreigner or PR withdraws, the bank keeps back tax: 24% of the taxed part (half of it from the withdrawal age, all of it before), or 15% if you take out no more than $200,000 in the year and have no other income that year and declare it. Before the withdrawal age, the 5% penalty also applies. That is not the final tax: IRAS works it out on your return. A foreigner who has kept the account for 10 years from the first contribution can take it all out at once, half taxed, with no penalty.
Does SRS money in the bank count for deposit insurance?
Yes. Singapore dollar deposits under SRS are insured by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation up to $100,000, as each of the three banks states on its SRS page. Investments bought with SRS money (shares, funds, insurance) are not deposits and are not covered.
Where the rules come from
- The scheme’s rules, limits and what SRS money can buy: the Ministry of Finance’s SRS page (last updated 15 Apr 2026). The account statistics: MOF’s SRS statistics, figures to Dec 2025.
- Tax on contributions and withdrawals, the 10-year window, the examples we check against: IRAS’s pages on SRS contributions and tax relief and tax on SRS withdrawals. The retirement age: IRAS and MOM.
- The banks: each bank’s own SRS page, terms and fee schedule, linked line by line in the table. OCBC’s pages were read in a browser, as OCBC turns away automatic readers.
- Tax on pay, CPF and Earned Income Relief: our income tax calculator, built from IRAS’s rules and checked against IRAS’s worked examples.
- We read all of these on 12 Nov 2026 and check them again on the dates on our update schedule; the banks’ offers are re-read before they end. All the sums run in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
- These are numbers, not financial or tax advice. IRAS decides your tax. No bank pays us, and this page has no affiliate links. See our disclaimer, how we get our numbers and corrections.
Changes to this page
Correction. The SRS account page said UOB’s “Flexibility to withdraw” line sits on its page with nothing next to it about tax. It does have something: the small i beside that line opens a note that an early withdrawal is taxed in full and draws a 5% penalty. We took that claim out of “What the banks’ pages don’t say, or get wrong” and put in a slip UOB really makes: one page, two deadlines, 30 December in a panel and 31 December by 7 pm in its app steps. The same re-read of UOB filled out its row in the bank table: the TMRW app’s hours, Internet Banking and branches as other ways to pay in, no online opening for foreigners, and the yearly charge on gold. DBS, OCBC and UOB side by side
New: SRS account. A calculator for what paying into SRS saves you for YA 2027 and what it costs in tax when you take it out, with a CPF cash top-up beside it; a check of your withdrawal age from the day of your first contribution; a 10-year withdrawal plan; DBS, OCBC and UOB side by side with their current offers; MOF’s figures since 2001; and the sums checked against 15 of IRAS’s and the banks’ worked examples. See the page