Ultimate Guide to Registering Your Company in Singapore
Singapore has a stable political and economic standing. These are the primary reasons why a considerable number of Singaporeans and foreigners prefer to set up their businesses in Singapore.
These entrepreneurs benefit from the multi-pronged stability of Singapore to start a venture and enjoy its pro-business setting.
Are you considering to start a business in Singapore?
One of the initial steps you need to do is to register your company with the ACRA. You need not worry about all the process you need to take as business registration is convenient and straightforward.
This guide helps you to understand better the process to register and run your business in Singapore.
Setting Up Your Company
You must acknowledge first that a company is a separate legal entity. The company remains distinguishable from the director and shareholders of the company. Under Singapore law, you will find two types of companies, Private and Public.
A public company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) may have more than 50 shareholders. Private companies, on the other hand, are not on SGX stock exchange. Typically, private companies have less than 50 shareholders (also known as the company’s owners).
These shareholders appoint company directors to supervise the operations of the company. Any person of foreign or national age 18 years old or above could register a Singapore company according to the Singapore Companies Act (Chapter 50).
Benefits & Drawbacks
Do bear in mind that a company striving to grow is relative to the business structure.
For a private company, some of the benefits include the simplicity of transferring ownership and raising capital.
Shareholders are subject to limited liability, meaning they are not in charge of any legal action taken against the company or its amassed debts.
Running a private company suggests you must deal with regulatory compliance duties, such as holding AGM and filing annual returns (AR) with ACRA.
Failure to comply with ACRA’s requirement will lead to penalizing the company. You can hire a company secretary to handle these tasks.
Process of Pre-Registration
We prepare the following essential things you must keep in mind.
1. Registered Address
Your company should have a local office address in Singapore.
The registered address should be a physical one and not a P.O. Box. Do speak to a Singapore company secretarial firm and seek their advice on the use of residential address as your business address.
Remember that all registered Singapore businesses should be operational and accessible to the public during office hours.
2. Paid-Up Capital and Corporate Income Tax
A Singapore company registration needs only 1 Singapore dollar as paid-up capital. Singapore corporate tax rate of 17% is one of the lowest in the world.
Registered companies in Singapore enjoy zero dividend taxes and no capital gains too. Make sure you do further research about Learn More.
3. Company Secretary
The Singapore Companies Act states that each company should appoint a qualified company secretary.
If your company has one shareholder and one director only, the individual cannot be the company secretary no matter how qualified he or she is for the position.
4. Shareholders of the Company
Shareholders of private limited companies could have a maximum of 50 shareholders. They could be a person or another company. These people or companies permit for full ownership either by a foreign or local owner.
The company can distribute new shares after you have complete the company’s registration. Also, shareholders can then transfer shares to another person or a corporation.
5. Director/s of the Company
The company’s director should be at least a resident of the country.
A person can be qualified for this position if he or she is:
– a Singapore citizen (SC); or
– an individual with a valid Employment Pass (EP), Dependant’s Pass (DP) or EntrePass in Singapore; or
– a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR)
The director of the company should be 18 years old and above, not bankrupt and does not have a legal history of any misconduct.
There is no limit for appointed company directors and no particular requirements suggesting directors should be shareholders.
Requirements You Need
Here is the list of details and documents you need to prepare:
- proposed financial year-end (FYE)
- company constitution
- details of the company secretary
- registered business address (RBA)
- details of the directors
- details of the shareholders
- short description of business activities
- company name
Process of Registration
An applicant could register their business with the BizFile+ account. If you do not have access to it, you can hire the services of a registered agent in Singapore.
Below are the essential steps you need to do:
Step 1. Choose a company name and company address
ACRA will approve your company’s name if it meets certain conditions. Do search ACRA BizFile+ to check if you can use your preferred company’s name. The preferred name must be unique and do not use any registered trademarks.
Step 2. Ready the constitution and shareholder agreement
This document is similar to a Memorandum and Articles of Association.
Step 3. Finish the registration on BizFile+
Fill out every detail requested in the BizFile+. You need to pay a registration fee. Once paid, you can set up your company in less than 15 minutes.
Post-Registration
Upon completion of registration, ACRA issues a few documents to you via email.
These documents are the official certification of business incorporation in Singapore.
You can download your company’s profile after requesting for it on BizFile+. Remember that these papers are essential for all contractual and legal purposes in Singapore.
Ready to Register Your Singapore Company?
You now have a full understanding of how to set up your company in Singapore.
If you are looking assistance, contact us today for a no-obligation discussion with our company registration team.