To customers and suppliers, a registered business provides legitimacy because information about your business can be searched and verified via ACRA. As a result, your business may find it easier to obtain financing and contracting on credit. Your local director may not necessarily partake in all decisions, but they should still satisfy the government requirement such as minimum salary, holding the annual general meeting, and so on.

Can a Foreigner Register a Company in Singapore?

It is therefore critical that you have in place a well-drafted employment contract that clearly sets out these obligations. Additionally, a general obligation when hiring employees is that you generally owe your employees a duty of trust and confidence. This duty entails not engaging in conduct that undermines the employer-employee relationship.

Singapore boasts one of the most attractive corporate tax rates at 17% on chargeable income. That how long should you keep business records being said, there are certain obligations that businesses must meet in order to operate in Singapore. A business’ FYE is determined entirely by the business itself based on what best suits its business operations.

How To Register a Company in Singapore in 2024

1. This means there is unlimited liability to taxes and debts from the business and the individual who runs it.
2. Another consequence of failing to register is that any contractual rights may be unenforceable by an unregistered business owner.
3. In other cases, the regulatory authority may only get involved in approving your registration after it has been submitted to ACRA.
4. The Home Office Scheme allows homeowners, registered occupants, or tenants of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats to operate small-scale offices in their homes, subject to the prevailing conditions of use.
5. For example, start-up companies can receive full or partial exemptions for up to three years.

This would be a separate legal entity which would similarly allow you questions and answers for the additional medicare tax internal revenue service to limit your liabilities. If you are a foreign entrepreneur residing in Singapore and wish to start and operate a business here, you can apply for an Entrepreneur Pass (EntrePass) from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Eligible foreign entrepreneurs can apply for the EntrePass before incorporating a company with ACRA, or within 6 months after incorporating a company with ACRA. For more information on what businesses are eligible and the application requirements, you can visit MOM’s website here.

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If you intend to form a business firm with one or more other partners, you may wish to register as a partnership. However, if your business name includes descriptive words before or after your name, such as “Home-Baked Cakes by Lim Ah Kao”, you must register your business. If you plan to start a company in Singapore and are moving there, you can register it with the relevant work visas or do so remotely by appointing a resident director or a nominee director. Your taxable or chargeable income is calculated by adding up your exemptions, incentives, and deductions and then subtracting the total from your income. The corporate secretary of Singapore is responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance and maintaining company records. Whether you’re running an online business or you’re operating locally in Singapore, there are plenty of good reasons to join the thousands of new businesses that are incorporated here each year.

After the period of registration has expired, your registration will have to be renewed. You can use your flat to run the administrative functions of a business and hire up to two non-resident employees. If the name you have chosen has been used before or is extremely similar to a used business name, ACRA will refuse to register it.

Alternatively, you would require Halal Certification should you wish commitment amount to serve food to Muslim customers due to religiously prescribed requirements on the food they consume. For sole proprietorships or partnerships, you must notify ACRA that the business has ceased by filling in the “Cessation of Business” transaction online via BizFile+. Additionally, for a sole proprietorship or partnerships, the registration will expire once it has lapsed and was not renewed. However, the business name remains registered until the registration is cancelled. The first important choice to make would be to choose a business structure based on your considerations regarding capital, number of owners and risks.

Additionally, certain businesses also require permits to operate in Singapore. Critically, permits are required for specific goods that businesses may wish to sell. For instance, the importing of goods from overseas requires a government permit that one may apply for via TradeNet. On top of that, controlled goods require further authorisation from Competent Authorities before they may be imported into Singapore. Examples of such goods include chewing gums, firecrackers and telecommunication equipment. Separately, if a business wishes to export its goods out of Singapore, it must also go through the above process to obtain an export permit.