Malaysia EPF contribution table: how the 2026 KWSP calculation works

By GrowThenDraw Editorial Team · Updated July 28, 2026 · 13 min read · Editorial policy

Malaysia's familiar EPF percentages are only the beginning of the payroll calculation. For most Malaysian and permanent-resident employees earning RM20,000 or less, the legally relevant answer is the whole-ringgit amount printed in the Third Schedule wage table.

The current schedule applies from October 2025 wages, which means it is the schedule used during 2026 unless KWSP publishes a later effective version. This guide shows how to select the right part and why a percentage-only calculator can be wrong.

Start with wages that are liable for EPF

KWSP describes wages broadly as monetary remuneration paid under a contract of service or apprenticeship. Its examples of liable payments include salary, bonus, allowance, commission, incentives, arrears, and certain paid-leave amounts.

Overtime, gratuity, retirement benefits, retrenchment and termination benefits, payment in lieu of notice, and travelling allowances are among the listed non-wage items. The list is not exhaustive. This calculator therefore asks for monthly wages subject to EPF rather than trying to classify a payslip it cannot see.

Choose Part A, C, E or F

Part A changes the employer headline rate at RM5,000: 13% at or below that wage and 12% above it, while the employee headline rate remains 11%. Part C similarly changes the employer rate from 6.5% to 6%, while the employee rate remains 5.5%. Part E is 4% employer and 0% employee.

The schedule also says the minimum age to register and contribute is 14 and the maximum contribution age is 75. The calculator returns zero outside the contribution-age boundary rather than projecting an impossible mandatory payment.

• Part A: Malaysian citizens, permanent residents and qualifying older non-Malaysian members below age 60.
• Part C: permanent residents and non-Malaysian members registered before 1 August 1998 who are age 60 or older.
• Part E: Malaysian citizens from age 60 until contributions cease at age 75.
• Part F: non-Malaysian citizens registered from 1 August 1998, with 2% employee and 2% employer shares.

Use the wage band through RM20,000

For Parts A, C and E, wages from RM10.01 through RM5,000 use RM20 ranges. A wage of RM3,250 falls inside RM3,240.01 to RM3,260.00, so the contribution uses that published row. Wages from RM5,000.01 through RM20,000 use RM100 ranges; RM6,710.80 falls inside RM6,700.01 to RM6,800.

The table amounts correspond to applying the relevant rates to the top of the wage range and rounding each share up to a whole ringgit. This is why RM3,250 produces RM424 employer and RM359 employee in Part A, rather than RM423 and RM358 from exact multiplication.

Worked example: Malaysian employee earning RM6,710.80

Assume the member is a Malaysian citizen aged 35. Part A applies. Because the wage is above RM5,000 but not above RM20,000, select the RM6,700.01-to-RM6,800 row. The employer amount is RM816 and the employee amount is RM748, for RM1,564 total.

Directly multiplying RM6,710.80 by 12% and 11% would produce RM805.30 and RM738.19, or RM1,543.49. KWSP expressly marks that percentage approach incorrect for this wage range.

Wages above RM20,000 use actual percentages

When wages exceed RM20,000, the schedule switches to the actual monthly wage. At RM21,250 for a Malaysian citizen below 60, the employer's 12% share is RM2,550 and the employee's 11% share is RM2,337.50. The combined RM4,887.50 is rounded up to a statutory total of RM4,888.

The total-rounding rule matters: the official example retains the sen in the individual calculation and rounds the combined remittance. The calculator therefore shows the two calculated shares, any rounding adjustment and the whole-ringgit statutory total separately.

Non-Malaysian employees from October 2025

The current Part F generally requires a 2% employee share and a 2% employer share for covered non-Malaysian employees. It applies at any wage amount, and a combined amount containing sen is rounded up to the next ringgit.

KWSP's example at RM6,710 calculates RM134.20 from each side, then rounds the RM268.40 combined amount to RM269. Registration history matters because some non-Malaysian members registered before 1 August 1998 remain under the Part A and Part C structure.

Payroll and calculator checks

This sequence makes the calculation auditable. It also explains a small difference between a payslip and a generic online percentage tool without implying that either the employee or employer has done something wrong before the underlying wage category is checked.

• Confirm the wage components subject to contribution.
• Choose status and registration history before choosing the schedule part.
• Use age during the contribution month, especially around ages 60 and 75.
• Use the statutory table through RM20,000; do not substitute exact multiplication.
• Treat the employer's actual remittance and the member's i-Akaun record as authoritative.