Singapore Company Incorporation

Setting up a company in Singapore is a good plan. This country provides an environment that is very friendly for new businesses. In fact, the World Bank Report ranked Singapore 1st for ease of doing business in the year 2007 and 2008. Singapore is also ranked as the 2nd most competitive country in the world.

So it's easy to see that doing business in Singapore is a great prospect for any foreign companies. However, there are rules and regulations that you might want to know when forming a company in Singapore.

Singapore Company Incorporation - What is required

The obligations are simple:

- Both Singaporeans and foreigners can register a new Singapore company

- Singapore permits 100% foreign ownership

- Paidup capital of one dollar is okay

- There must be one shareholder and one director

- Local director is a regulation, otherwise, there must be a nominee director

- The company address must be a Singapore registered address

- The company must hire a local qualified company secretary

What are the benefits

One of the biggest benefits of having a local company is that the country allows ZERO coporate tax for the initial $100,000 profits for new set ups, up to 3 years. This is a very competitive benefit that many overseas companies enjoy.

The corporate tax is also very enticing: 8.5% tax for up to $300,000 profits and 17% for profits above that. Not many countries can match the low tax rates set by Singapore, which makes it a very big factors for new company set ups.

Company secretarial services

One important highlight here is that the company must appoint a local, qualified company secretary. Most of the time the secretary is not part of the company's payroll and it's assigned to a 3rd party that provides secretarial services.

So, it is important that the company must hire the right company secretary who is qualified and professional. In Singapore, there is no lack of capable secretaries. In fact, many are highly qualified so finding one should be easy.

Closing

Starting a company in Singapore is a great intention. The new company will not only get tax exemptions, Singapore is also a fine place to find local talents.