Payroll System Updates January 2026: Compliance and Tax Changes Across Asia

AI Highlights

• Overview of Payroll system updates January 2026 across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand

• Hong Kong 468 Rule enhancement replacing the previous 418 Rule logic

• Singapore IR8A, A8A and A8B compliance updates for tax year 2025

• Malaysia EPF foreigner 2 percent calculation update with revised rounding logic

• Thailand PND91 2025 form structural and mapping updates

• Workday XML convertor enhancements for Hong Kong MIT New C&B sheet

Introduction

The Payroll system updates January 2026 include statutory compliance changes, calculation logic improvements, security fixes, and reporting enhancements across multiple Asian jurisdictions. These updates affect e-HR, ESS, SaaS, and PayAdmin platforms, covering Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and India.

For payroll administrators, HR professionals, and compliance teams, understanding these January 2026 payroll release changes is essential to ensure accurate calculations, statutory alignment, and correct reporting outputs.

This article outlines the key enhancements, compliance changes, and defect fixes introduced in the January 2026 payroll release.

Why Payroll System Updates Matter for Compliance and Accuracy

Payroll systems must continuously adapt to legislative changes, regulatory updates, and evolving reporting standards. Failure to implement updated tax logic, contribution rules, or employment regulations can lead to incorrect filings, penalties, and employee disputes.

The January 2026 updates focus on:

• Legislative alignment such as the Hong Kong 468 Rule

• Tax form and reporting compliance in Singapore and Thailand

• Contribution logic adjustments in Malaysia

• Data integrity improvements and security remediation

• Workday integration enhancements for structured payroll input

These changes support statutory compliance and reduce calculation errors across multiple payroll cycles.

Hong Kong 468 Rule Update and IR56 Enhancements

468 Rule Enhancement Replacing 418 Rule

A major update in Hong Kong is the enhancement of continuous contract logic to align with the Hong Kong 468 Rule.

Employees who have been employed for four weeks or more will now qualify if they:

• Work at least 17 hours per week, or

• Work a total of 68 hours or more over a four week period including the current week and preceding three weeks

This replaces the previous 418 Rule logic and applies across GP1, GP2, and SaaS platforms.

IR56 and Tax Form Enhancements

Improvements were made to IR56 forms to enhance formatting and calculation accuracy:

• Standardized font style and size

• Thousand separators for HKD amounts

• Improved handling of long surnames

• Correct mapping of HKID and Passport numbers

• Spouse identification number inclusion

• Correct handling of negative subitems

• Enhanced payroll pay item mapping to IR56 sections

MPF and ORSO Reporting Updates

Additional Hong Kong reporting enhancements include:

• Negative RI values displayed as 0.00 in MPF reports

• Updated termination reason mapping including Transfer Entity and Entity Transfer

• Enhanced ORSO logic for salary change and termination cases

• New eMPF report with multi paygroup support

Singapore IR8A, A8A and A8B Compliance Updates 2026

The Singapore updates focus on tax form compliance and system validation improvements.

Authorized Person Field Update

The Name of Authorized Person field is now a dropdown synced with the employee list across IR8A, A8A, and A8B forms. Any updates in employee records automatically reflect in tax forms.

IR8A and A8B Enhancements

Key updates include:

• DCPF value corrections

• Mapping for DCPF and DCPF Top up

• Default Income Tax Borne by Employee set to No

• A8B TXT file limit increased from 15 to 30 records

• IR8A TXT file DTM value default set to 20251231

• CPF allowed as 0.00 for foreign employees without validation errors

Template download and upload issues in IR8A and A8A have also been resolved.

These updates align with broader payroll compliance updates 2026 requirements in Singapore.

Malaysia EPF Foreigner 2 Percent Calculation Update

For Malaysia, the January 2026 payroll release includes an important calculation logic change for foreign employees under the 2 percent EPF scheme.

Previously, wage rounding may have affected EPF calculation. The updated logic now:

• Calculates EPF based on actual wage without wage rounding

• Rounds only the final EPF amount to the nearest Ringgit

• Maintains existing logic for Citizens and Permanent Residents

This ensures accurate contribution calculation for foreign employees under the Rate Calculated by System method.

Thailand PND91 2025 Tax Form Updates

The Thailand Tax 2025 PND91 update includes structural and reporting changes:

• Updated report year to 2025, Buddhist year 2568

• Added Foreign Tax Credit fields on Page 2

• Renumbered subsequent line items

• Removed SSF and replaced with Home Loan Interest

• Added Thai ESGX mapping

• Updated Domestic Tourism Expense fields

• Structural changes to Allowances and Deductions

Total calculation logic remains unchanged, but form structure and mapping have been updated to align with current tax reporting standards.

Workday XML Convertor and MIT Enhancements

For Hong Kong ESS and SaaS platforms, enhancements were introduced to the Workday XML convertor:

• Support for the New C&B sheet in MIT

• Special mapping of selected recurring pay items to New C&B

• Frequency translation logic from Monthly, Quarterly, Annually to Lumpsum

• Designated pay item mapping such as AEER0021

Additionally, ALP-LE handling has been enhanced:

• Positive inputs convert to ALP-LE

• Negative inputs convert to ALP-LO with sign retention

These changes improve payroll data integration and structured input handling.

For more information about the Hong Kong 468 Rule and payroll compliance considerations, refer to our detailed compliance resources section.

Security Fixes and Defect Resolutions

The January 2026 payroll release also addressed multiple security and defect issues, including:

Security Remediation:

• Unrestricted file upload and missing rate limiting in Contact Us attachment

• Stored Cross Site Scripting in file manager description field

• Unauthorized company profile modification via insecure object reference

• IDOR issues in enquiries management

Defect Fixes:

• Claims visibility issue resolved

• Logo display corrections

• Report data inconsistencies fixed

• Reopen cycle function updates for Japan

• Various tax module and report generation fixes

These updates improve system stability, security posture, and reporting accuracy.

Payslip and Calculation Logic Enhancements

Additional calculation and payslip updates include:

• Net Pay zero scenario now displays 0.00 with explanatory message

• Employees with Net Pay zero included in Payslip Manifest CSV

• Updated paternity leave formula calculation

• Creation of new pay item ALP-LO for leave deduction handling

These enhancements improve clarity and ensure complete payslip generation for all employees.

Key Takeaways

The Payroll system updates January 2026 focus on legislative compliance, tax form alignment, integration improvements, and security enhancements across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Key areas include:

• Hong Kong 468 Rule logic update

• Singapore IR8A, A8A, A8B compliance adjustments

• Malaysia EPF foreigner contribution calculation update

• Thailand PND91 2025 form revisions

• Workday XML convertor enhancements

• Security remediation and defect fixes

Organizations operating multi country payroll environments should review these changes to ensure reporting accuracy and regulatory alignment for the 2026 payroll cycle.

Learn More

To explore related payroll compliance updates and statutory reporting guidance, read our related resources section for country specific payroll insights.