Registering a company in Singapore

Singapore is famous for offering an environment that is very friendly for new businesses. In fact, the World Bank Report ranked Singapore as the number one country in terms of the doing business in the year 2007 and 2008. Singapore is also the second most competitive country in the world.

Starting a new business in Singapore is a great prospect for any foreign establishments. While it is great, take note that there are rules and regulations that you might want to know when incoporating a company in Singapore.

Company Incorporation Singapore - requirements

Here are a few stipulations:

- Anyone can register a new company in Singapore, applies to both locals and foreigners

- Singapore permits 100% foreign ownership

- Paidup capital of one dollar is allowed

- Minimum of 1 director and 1 shareholder is required

- The company must have at least one local director

- The company address must be a Singapore registered address

- Company secretary is a requirement

What are the benefits

Here's one great benefit: The country allows ZERO coporate tax for the first $100,000 profits for fresh companies, up to 3 years. This is a very competitive benefit that most foreign establishments enjoy.

The corporate tax is also very enticing: 8.5% tax for up to $300,000 profits and 17% for profits above that. The coporate tax rates are very competitive, which prompts many foreign companies to start their local presence in Singapore.

Other prerequisites

One important highlight here is that a local secretary must be hired by the company and this secretary must be qualified. Most of the time the secretary is not part of the company's payroll and is usually outsourced to a professional secretarial services company.

So, the challenge here is to find and appoint a professional and qualified company secretary. Fortunately, there are a number of professional and capable company secretaries in Singapore so it shouldn't be too hard to look for one.

The wrap-up

Incoporating a company in Singapore is a good plan. The new company will not only get tax exemptions, you get a huge pool of local talents.