Singapore Company

A Singapore Company has the following characteristics:

1. 1. Shareholders:
      A minimum of one shareholder is required for a Singapore Company whose details are filed on the public register. Corporate shareholders are permitted and anonymity can be achieved by the use of nominee shareholders.
   2. Directors:
      A minimum of one director is required for a Singapore Company and full details must be filed with the Public Registry. Corporate directors are not permitted. Also one Director MUST be a Singapore resident.
   3. Officers/Secretary:
      Singapore Companies are required to appoint a resident company secretary, who must be a natural person.
   4. Restriction on name and activity of a Singapore Company:
      Names which suggest any connection to the existing companies or trade mark / patents are generally prohibited in setting up a Singapore Company and certain words which suggest specialist activity can only be used when the appropriate licences have been obtained e.g. bank, insurance company and other specialist financial enterprises.
   5. Local Requirements of a Singapore Company:
      As a matter of local company law the Singapore Company MUST maintain a registered office address within the jurisdiction of incorporation and must also appoint a local resident company secretary. The secretary cannot be the sole director of the Singapore Company. We would generally provide these services as part of the domiciliary service fee.
   6. Timescale of Singapore Company Set Up:
      Incorporation of a Singapore company takes around 10 days.
   7. Annual Reporting:
      No accounts need to be filed but annual returns are required to be filed for a Seychelles International Business Company. It should be noted that penalty fees will be incurred if the license fee is not paid when due.
   8. Annual Reporting:
      1. Annual Meetings
         Each Singapore company must hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) once in every calendar year and not more than 15 months after the holding of last preceding AGM. The first AGM must be held not later than 18 months from the date of incorporation.
      2. Accounts
         Singapore Companies are required to file an annual return together with their statutory financial statements (if applicable) within one month from the AGM date with ACRA via bizfile. The companies Act allows Singapore companies to be exempted from audit requirement if the following criteria are met:
      • No corporate shareholder
      • Less than 20 individual shareholders
      • Less than SGD 5 million annual revenue

Financial statements of a Singapore company must be audited except for dormant companies and private exempt companies that meet the conditions set out above.

Singapore Companies which are either limited by shares or unlimited are required to file their financial statements in XBRL format.

9. Singapore Company Taxation

1. 1. Singapore resident companies can benefit from a broad treaty network of double taxation agreements and many government corporate tax incentive schemes and grants.
   2. Singapore resident companies are generally entitled to income tax exemptions on foreign sourced dividends, foreign branch profits, and foreign-sourced service income subject to meeting certain criteria.
   3. Singapore Companies has no capital gains tax
   4. Corporate tax rate of a Singapore Company is a flat 17% with a lower effective tax rate due to available applicable tax exemptions and incentives.
   5. Taxation of income in Singapore is assessed on a territorial and remittance basis; only income accrued in or derived from Singapore, or income derived overseas but received in Singapore, is subject to tax.
   6. All foreign source income received by individuals in Singapore is tax exempt.
   7. Singapore Company has no estate duty