Social Security Fund (सामाजिक सुरक्षा कोष) for Employers: SSF Registration and Monthly Contributions

Who Must Enrol

Two laws work together. Labour Act 2074 Section 52 requires an employer to deduct 10% of basic remuneration, add an equal amount, and deposit the total as provident fund in the Social Security Fund; Section 53 adds gratuity. The Contribution-based Social Security Act 2074 supplies the machinery: enlistment (Sections 19–20), the deposit (Section 4) and recovery (Section 9).

The Ministry’s Gazette notice of 2075/07/26 (12 November 2018) called employers to enlist themselves and their staff. We found no employee-count threshold in either Act or the notice. A small company with one salaried employee is in scope, and so is a Sole Proprietorship or Partnership Firm that employs staff.

Under Section 20, a newer employer must enlist its workers within three months of employing them. SSF belongs in the first quarter after registration, alongside PAN.

The Contribution: 31% of Basic Salary

Section 7 of the Act does not fix the rate itself; it lets the Ministry set it by Gazette notice. The figure in force, published by the SSF and repeated by every law-firm and payroll guide we checked, is 31% of basic salary:

The basis is basic salary, not gross pay. On a basic salary of NPR 30,000 a month, the employee contributes NPR 3,300, the employer NPR 6,000, and NPR 9,300 goes to the Fund. On NPR 1,00,000 basic, the deposit is NPR 31,000.

The SSF publishes the breakdown only as images, so the split above is from guides that transcribe it. Guides disagree on whether a monthly ceiling applies to contributable income; we could not confirm one, so ask the SSF (1116) before relying on a cap.

Registering the Employer on SOSYS

Everything runs through SOSYS, the Fund’s online system at sosys.ssf.gov.np:

1. Register the employer: name, address, registration number, PAN and contact person.
2. Upload documents: registration certificate, PAN/VAT certificate, and, per practitioner guides, an employee list and a signed SSF memorandum of understanding. Confirm the current list with [email protected].
3. Approval: the Fund issues an employer enlistment number (Section 19).
4. Enrol each employee with identity document, joining date and basic salary. Each gets an SSF ID (Section 41) and completes their own details, including nominees.
5. Each month, submit contributions on SOSYS, pay through the portal’s channels, and file the voucher with that month’s payroll.
6. When someone leaves, record the exit (Section 24). The next employer uses the same SSF ID.

Provident fund balances already held in the EPF, the CIT or your own books must be transferred to the SSF under Labour Act Section 52; plan that at enlistment.

The Monthly Deadline: 15 Days or 25?

Section 4(4) originally required the contribution to reach the Fund within 15 days of the end of each month. The Act to Amend Some Nepal Acts, 2082, published in the Gazette on 2082/04/14 (30 July 2025), amended the SSF Act, and the consolidated text on Nepal Laws now reads “within twenty-five days of the end of the month.” Pioneer Law Associates’ summary of the amendment reports the same change from 15 to 25 days.

A part month is paid proportionately (Section 4(3)). The Fund has occasionally extended one month’s deadline by notice, as Bizshala reported for Shrawan 2082; that is not a standing rule.

Run it in the same monthly close as TDS and VAT, both due by the 25th. The full calendar is in our annual compliance guide for a Pvt. Ltd.

Late Deposit: Interest, Enforcement and Liability

Section 9(6) is the one to remember: if an employee is injured while deposits are behind, the employer carries the benefit uninsured. And the 11% deducted from salaries is the staff’s money.

The Tax Angle

• No 1% social security tax for SSF contributors. The first slab of Nepal’s personal income tax carries a 1% social security tax, which the employer withholds through TDS. Payroll and tax guides for FY 2082/83 and 2083/84 agree that an employee contributing to the SSF does not pay it; the 1% inside the employee’s 11% stands in for it. We read this in practitioner guides, not in the Finance Act text, so check it with your auditor for your payroll.
• Retirement contribution deduction. For FY 2082/83, reporting on the Finance Act set the deduction at the lower of one-third of assessable income or NPR 3,00,000 for CIT and EPF, and NPR 5,00,000 for SSF contributors. Payroll guides for FY 2083/84 describe a single NPR 5,00,000 cap for all approved funds. We have not confirmed that change in the Finance Act 2083 text.
• Employer’s 20% is a staff cost in the accounts. Record it with the month’s payroll so the TDS return and the income tax return agree — see our company tax filing guide.

SSF vs CIT and EPF for a Private Company

Before the SSF, private employers used the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the Citizen Investment Trust (CIT) or their own books. Many still do.

An employer can keep a CIT scheme as an extra benefit; it cannot substitute it for SSF enrolment. B360 reported in 2025 that the Labour Act exempts an employer whose workers are enrolled in the SSF from buying separate medical and accident insurance, which is a real saving that employers on CIT do not get.

Foreign and Contract Staff

Contract and part-time employees. The Act covers every person employed by, or in an employment relationship with, the employer (Section 20). The Labour Act’s fixed-term, work-based, casual and part-time categories are all employment, so they are all enrolled, with contributions on the basic pay actually paid. A genuine independent contractor who invoices you is not your employee, but calling an employee a “consultant” does not take them out of the scheme.

Foreign nationals working in Nepal. We found nothing in the Act that excludes them, and Pioneer Law’s SSF Q&A states that foreign nationals may participate. We found no published SSF procedure on what a foreign employee submits in place of a Nepali citizenship certificate. Ask the Fund before the first payroll, and keep the labour permit on file.

What Trips Employers Up

Commonly reported by practitioners and the business press:

• Enrolling late, or never. B360 reported that only a small share of Nepal’s enterprises are enrolled. Since the 2082 amendment, a failure to enlist is itself grounds for the account-freeze and licence powers in Section 9(4).
• Setting basic salary artificially low. A small “basic” with large allowances cuts the 31%, and the employee’s benefits with it; a common dispute when staff leave.
• Deducting the 11% and depositing late. The payroll shows the deduction; SOSYS shows no deposit. That gap is exactly what Section 9 interest and Section 47 address.
• Forgetting exits and unpaid leave. B360 reported that the Fund’s directives expect contributions to continue for a period after pay stops, recoverable from later pay. Record exits on SOSYS promptly.
• Waiting on the CIT transfer. Old provident fund balances left in CIT or EPF after enlistment are a common loose end in a labour audit.
• Treating SSF apart from the rest of compliance. It sits in the same calendar as TDS, VAT and the OCR filing; our company compliance service runs them together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is SSF registration mandatory for a small company in Nepal?

Yes, if it has employees. Neither the Contribution-based Social Security Act 2074 nor the Labour Act 2074 sets a minimum number of staff, and Section 20 requires a new employer to enlist its workers within three months of employing them.

What is the SSF contribution rate?

31% of basic salary: 11% deducted from the employee and 20% paid by the employer. On NPR 30,000 basic, that is NPR 3,300 plus NPR 6,000, a total deposit of NPR 9,300 a month.

What is the SSF deposit deadline?

Section 4(4) of the Act, as amended by the Act to Amend Some Nepal Acts, 2082, reads 25 days after the end of the month; before that it was 15 days. We have not seen an SSF notice confirming the change, and some guides still give the 15th, so depositing by the 15th is the safe practice.

What happens if an employer deposits SSF late?

The Fund recovers the contribution with 10% interest under Section 9(1), which it may waive if you apply within 30 days showing causes beyond your control. If an employee is injured or dies while contributions are unpaid, the employer pays the benefit the Fund would have paid.

Can we keep using CIT instead of SSF?

Not as a substitute. Labour Act Section 52 directs the provident fund to the SSF and requires existing balances to be transferred. A CIT scheme can continue as an additional, voluntary benefit.

Do SSF contributors pay the 1% social security tax?

Payroll and tax guides for FY 2082/83 and 2083/84 report that they do not, because the employee’s 11% includes 1% in its place. Confirm the treatment with your auditor when setting up TDS.