Singapore is a country that has progressed and prospered due to various economic activities. People around the world recognize Singapore as a hub for different businesses and now it is poised to expand into many other ASEAN cities.
As far as the political environment of Singapore is concerned, it is a very stable country, its immigration policy is also quite flexible and the industries of the country are run by the latest and advanced technology.
If anyone wants to set up his company, followed by company incorporation in Singapore must register in ACRA which is a regulatory body in Singapore. This will ensure that all the companies in Singapore follow the company’s Act.
Morrison Management is the leading tax advisory and accounting firm in Singapore that provide various services like:
- Company registration service
- Immigration service
If you wish to set up your business in Singapore, then Morrison can offer you help by offering their consultancy services to manage the company affairs efficiently and swiftly. They can handle all your paper works and all other regulatory compliance activities.
What you must know before registering the company in Singapore?
If you are interested to set up your business in Singapore, then here we are offering a short summary of things that you must do so that you can run your business smoothly in Singapore by following all the rules of the country.
- First, you need to provide your company address in Singapore, which should be your company’s registered address. You can give the address of both your residential as well as a commercial location but your address should not contain any P.O box number.
- Make sure that your company’s name is approved by the authority before the registration.
- There must be one resident director appointed by you who should be an adult person of age 18 years or above. The person should not be bankrupt, and there should be no charges against him for doing any kind of malpractices in the past.
- Make sure that you must not have more than 50 shareholders. The shareholders may be among the directors of the company but it is not a must. They can also be Singaporean and non-Singaporean individuals or organisations.
- There must be a qualified company secretary from Singapore who has to be appointed within 6 months of the registration of the company in this country.
- You must have a minimum amount of SGD$1 as share capital for registering your business in Singapore. After the company incorporation is completed, this amount can always be increased.
Principal activities
Also, it is important to decide what will be your principal activities while you register your company here.
You can select your company’s principal activities from the list that has been set out as a standard list available in Singapore, which is known as “SSIC”, which is also called the SSIC code of the company.
If your company selects certain business activities, which are regulated, then the name application of the company must be referred to the concerned regulatory body for proper evaluation, which will be almost like the chosen business name of the company.
Appointing a company secretary
Under the Company’s Act of Singapore, it is essential to appoint a certain Singapore company secretary. This requirement is mandatory for each and every company within the 6 months of company incorporation.
Your company secretary will be a person who will also be considered as an officer of your company, who is going to help and assist the entire administration works of the company and also make sure that all the directors, as well as shareholders will be kept well informed about various statutory obligations.
All these activities include the following:
- Annual filing of the audited accounts
- Holding of AGM (Annual General Meetings).
In case, your company has even asingle director, then he or she will not be eligible to fulfil this role as a company secretary of the company.
Share capital
The share value of any issued or paid-up capital is comparatively low when compared to most other foreign market jurisdictions. The low cap is S$1.00, which makes it an attractive proposition to participate in Singapore market. The company will not be asked to provide documentary proof of share capital availability in their banks. After getting your company incorporated, you can apply for the corporate bank account straight away. You can approach any bank for the same.
Tax Benefits and Other Incentives You Get by Starting Your Business in Singapore
There are few other incentives that Singapore businesses enjoy when compared to other countries. Example – Attractive incentives and few tax exemptions.
Your company will pay a tax that will be less than 9 percent for the first of S$300,000 annual profit that you make. Thereafter, your company will fall into the 17 % tax bracket, which is a flat structure. Moreover, dividend taxes or capital gaintax are exempted for Singapore businesses.
