Why choose Singapore for your business?

There are numerous advantages of setting up or expanding a business in Singapore. Among other countries of South-East Asia, it has the most influence in terms of political stability, strategic location, business-friendly environment. To the other parts of ASEAN, it acts as a gateway.

If we talk about, Jim Rogers, an American-born businessman. He is known as one of the giants of Wall Street. In 2007, he changed his direction to Singapore. He was aware of everything that time only, which the world was supposed to get later.
To offer the International Business community, it has a tremendous amount. Why do ventures, corporations, and entrepreneurs consider, it the most fruitful nation to set up their company?
– In the list of countries that are opened to trade policies, it has been ranked as #1.
– There is no capital gains or dividends tax in this city.
– The personal tax rates do start at 0% and reach a maximum of 22%.
– There is no such death/inheritance/ no state in Singapore.

What makes Singapore, the most attractive city to firms and entrepreneurs?
It’s a strategic location.
• Singapore is located at the heart of Southeast Asia, make itself the most convenient location for business. As from here, businesses can access a market of around 2.8 billion people.
• This country has been recognized as a premium international maritime center. The port of Singapore is one of the busiest ports all over the globe. According to the findings, the Changi Airport of this city serves around 15 million passengers annually. We can easily get an idea about the competitiveness by this data. Moreover, it has been said to be the best airport in the world due to its services and efficiency.

Singapore means business
• It is capable of attracting business entrepreneurs and foreign investment. While standing in Singapore, you can easily turn your dream into a huge business entity and attain the most significant profits.
• If compared with many other western nations, setting a company in Singapore only takes 1-2 days. It is due to the major contribution of Government assistance all along the way.

Its outstanding tax policies
• Taxes are of course the most agenda for any business. It is undoubtedly the key consideration for the entrepreneur. Singapore’s low effective corporate and personal tax rates are also an excellent factor.
• It has a tier system for personal income tax. Which has a starting at just 0% and goes till 22% when the income is above S$320,000.
• The corporate tax rates are set at a flat rate of 17%. This proportion is to be charged on a company’s chargeable income.
• In Singapore, there are no capital gains taxes; income that is taxed on a corporate level( Single tier tax policy). This allows the distribution of dividends, tax-free, to its shareholders.
• To make the economy more competitive and remove dependency on income taxes, the government has adopted GST, a more broad-based consumption tax. This nation maintains one of the lowest GST rates.

Adaptable immigration policies
• The open immigration policy of Singapore allows foreign nationals to replicate and set up their business here.
• The government has made Effective Singapore work visa provisions to anticipate the needs of investors.
• It is an easy task to get a PR status, permanent residence of Singapore.

Singapore has strong copyright laws, along with the world’s best labor force. If you are looking forward to testing your idea of building a successful business then, you would find no better place than Singapore.

Can a foreigner set up a company in Singapore?

In recent past years, Singapore has become Asia’s one of most influential service, financial, and shipping centers. It is the ‘state capitalism’ model which is followed as the economic philosophy of this nation. It fetches numerous advantages from its notable geographical location. It has a long-standing reputation of being one of the best places for businesses. Here you can get the most attractive incentives from the government and effective corporate tax rates of about 0 – 17%, which makes it the most suitable place for foreigners to invest.

Whether you want to reside and have a more-hands approach to your business or to run your business from overseas, you can easily get your business registered and just wait for it to prosper.

According to GFCI (Global Financial Centers Index), a report of 2018, has ranked Singapore as the fourth largest international financial center. The topmost place was grabbed by London, New York, and Hong Kong.

Even a foreigner is allowed to set up a company in this nation. For foreigners to set up an entity in Singapore, there are three options available:
Option 1- Private Limited Company + EntrePass
Option 2- Private Limited Company + Employment Pass
Option 3- Private Limited Company + Resident Director

Singapore has the credit of being a ‘garden city’ from which one can extrapolate the essence of landscape and sanitation present in the nation.

GAWC has ranked this nation the world first-tier city, Singapore is a component of
– ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
– APEC, Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation.
– WTO, World Trade Organization.

Advantages for setting up a company in Singapore
1. An independent and sound financial system.
2. Good company reputation.
3. The strategic geographical location of a logistics center.
4. Possibility for setting as migrants.
5. Bridge of listing financing and trade financing.
6. Preferential tax policies.
7. It gives access to opportunities for international investment. It offers a reduction in trade barriers for sensitive technologies.
8. It is an effective and great platform for protecting intellectual property rights expanding international brands.

What are the registration requirements to be done for setting a company in Singapore?
– At least 1 Singapore dollar of registered capital.
– Minimum 1 local director (permanent resident, citizens, and the pass holder who is residing in Singapore).
– At least one natural person or a body corporate shareholder who is having no nationality limitation.
– Two of the specified business scope with relevant industries can be specified.

Materials –
1. The articles of association and the company’s memorandum.
2. Identification certificate.
3. Affidavit of compliance.
4. Proper details of the auditors and the company secretaries,
5. The details of share issue records are to be submitted within one month of the incorporation.

Starting a business and making it the most influential is easy. You just need to set up your goal and get ready with all the registration requirement, you can be done with all the necessary processes in a single day. You can also hire a specialist for incorporation to help you out in the process of registration.

How much does it cost to incorporate a company in Singapore?

ACRA, the company registrar of Singapore charges fees of S$15 for the registration of the company name. For registering the company it charges S$300. ACRA stands for Accounting and corporate regulatory authority. It governs the overall procedure, which is to be followed for setting a company in Singapore.

Steps for the registration of a company in Singapore.
– Apply and get the name of your company approved from ACRA.
– Documentation for the company’s incorporation.
– Submission of an application to ACRA.

It is not possible for foreigners to self-register their company. An agent is required to be hired for this task. It depends upon the respective services which a company will provide, to calculate the total cost of setting up a company.

If you are a new entry to the ecosystem of business in Singapore and have been researching for setting up a company here, you should be aware of the needs and wide variety of price ranges. Before starting your investment, you must have got some most common questions like –
– The factors which influence the cost of a company incorporation
– The price range which you should expect from the service providers.
– Is there any hidden fee?
– Why are their packages and services cheaper?
– Should you engage a professional form for the incorporation task or not?

The minimum requirements to incorporate a company in Singapore
Before incorporating a private limited in the city, you have to be aware of the minimum requirements for that. They are- Minimum 1 director, one shareholder, one secretary, a minimum paid-up capital of S$1, and one registered address.

Generally, there are three major factors, controlling the cost of private service firms –
1. Compliance
2. Servicing
3. Administration

1. Compliance cost for secretarial firms
• According to the companies act of Singapore, having a corporate secretary just near the incorporation of your company is necessary. He helps your business by preventing any sort of combat terrorist financing and money laundering.
• You can reasonably access the cost of compliance with a small to medium size firm to be near $200-$500 per year per company. This cost includes professional exams and listening.

2. Cost of professional service and knowledge.
• The median salary which a corporate secretary possesses to handle annual compliance is around $3500 per month. Senior-level CS could cost you between $5000 to $7000 per month. However, if each CS can entertain 100 clients, so this sum of amount does not look large.

3. Administrative cost
• These costs are incurred for filing annual returns, special resolution, EGM, change of directors, and shareholders. This cost might revolve between $50- $200.
• The services like provision of company seal & chop by corporate secretaries could cost from $100-200.

What ranges you should expect from Singapore?
Taking a minimum necessity expense, of a secretarial cost the breakeven cost can be expected around $S600- S$700 per annum for a single company. When you have looked around long and hard enough, you will find that these ranges fall from 300 to 3000 Singapore dollars.
A range of S$800 – S$1,000 would be the recommended range for a good start.