Type of Company – Private Limited Liability Company.
Legislation – The Companies Act
Company name - A company name must end with Private Limited, Pte Ltd, Limited or Ltd.
Time-scale for incorporation - 3-5 working days
Disclosure of beneficial owners to the authorities is not required.
Double tax treaties concluded with 50 countries, among those included, are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Mauritius, The Netherlands, Oman, Philippines, Switzerland, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.
Shelf companies are not available.
Money laundering legislation is in existence.
Local Requirements
Registered Office and Registered Agent must be maintained.
Company Secretary must be qualified and must be a Singapore resident. Corporate secretaries are not permitted.
Public recording of shareholders, directors and company secretary are required for filing at the Public Registry.
Accounts are required to be audited in full, except for exempt private companies (company with individuals as shareholders and has an annual turnover of less than S$5 million). Accounts are also required to be filed on the public register.
Corporate Requirements
Minimum number of shareholders – One (1). May be a natural person or a body corporate and can be of any nationality or residency.
Minimum number of directors – One (1). At least one director must be a resident of Singapore, as corporate directors are NOT permitted. Additional non-resident directors may be appointed. A company is considered resident if management and control (the place where directors’ meetings are held) is exercised in Singapore.
Minimum capital requirement - S$1.
Bearer shares are not permitted.
Corporate Directors are not permitted.
Annual Requirements
Annual return and annual statutory meetings are required, together with an Annual Return fee of S$20.
Statutory accounting is required and a local Auditor is to be appointed.
Taxation – Singapore taxes on territorial basis. If the income source is outside Singapore and is not received or deemed received in Singapore, the income will not be assessable to tax in Singapore. Singapore corporate tax rate is at 20%. A non tax resident Singapore company would pay tax only on Singapore source income.
