Singapore attracts entrepreneurs in every corner of the world – and, to be quite frank, it is quite understandable. The corporate tax rate is 17 percent and a new business may be exempted handsomely during its initial three years of assessment. Registration is not made a bureaucratic nightmare by the government. Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) takes the majority of applications within 24 hours, after your documents are clean. Minimum paid-up capital? Just SGD 1. Most founders choose the structure of the Private limited Company, or Pte. Ltd. and it is logical, since your personal assets remain untouched as the company is a legal entity on its own. It is free to take out loans, enter into agreements and even be taken to court without hauling your own personal savings into court. Before making a decision, visit our site to compare services.

This is where foreigners get caught up. Singapore permits one hundred percent foreign ownership of a Pte. Ltd., which is no doubt generous by most Asian markets. However, there is a condition attached to that, namely that you must have at least one locally resident director. It refers to a Singapore citizen, permanent resident or anyone with a valid work pass. No one in the neighborhood, a nominee director service will legally satisfy that need. Hub Corporate Services available at Chinatown point provides precisely this. They have a nominee director who is a non-executive with no operations or finances and is not a bank signatory. It is a neat, convenient remedy that keeps it above board.

In addition to the director requirement, you must have a registered Singapore office address not a P.O. box but a physical address and an appointed company secretary must be qualified and who must be appointed within six months of incorporation. Miss the six months deadline and directors are subject to fines of SGD 1,000. Hub is a package of all these: name reservation with ACRA, incorporation filing, drafting company constitution, provision of the registered address, and opening bank account. One package. One team. Less running around.

Many founders are silent victims of post-incorporation compliance. Annual returns should be submitted to ACRA. AGMs must be held. Tax returns go to IRAS. Fail to meet a deadline and fines accumulate at an unprecedented rate. Hub does constant corporate secretarial, bookkeeping, payroll, and tax preparation – so founders can literally build something. It was a pleasant experience as one client put it so clearly: it was a breeze to do business with Hub and regulatory obstacles at ACRA and IRAS were quickly and non-dramatically fixed. Such reliability is crucial when you have fourteen hats as a start-up founder.

The moral of the story- Singapore pays to prepare. Getting your shareholding structure correct, selecting a sensible Financial Year End date, and sorting your compliance on the first day is all how your tax position is, your ability to get startup exemption, and how smoothly you will operate in the future. There’s no magic trick here. The proper arrangement, the right individuals to your side, and a city-state that is more than eager to have your business to prosper.