TNPL Blog
  • November 10, 2021

Singapore has proven time and again to be a thriving metropolis for corporate businesses and companies. Both international and locally based businesses have excelled in the excellent environment provided there.

The first step to getting an entrepreneurial start up going or to lift your company off the ground is to get it registered. No business operation or dealings can go through unless you are registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).

The process is not as simple as giving a submission and waiting for approval. In Singapore there is a lengthy process of obligatory requirements you must complete for the name to be approved and your business to be legitimate and registered with the authorities.

This post will try to break down the different indirect costs involved in the registration process and also give you an estimated number for it.

There are many Singapore company registration service agencies that can help you glide through the application and approval processes or to help you generate the specific requirements as they are separate for different kinds of corporate structures.

The direct answer to how much cost for company registration in Singapore is 315 S$. 15 for the submission fee of name approving paid through the BizFile+ portal and if your submission is accepted and approved the name will be held for 60 days. The additional 300 S$ is for the company incorporation after name approval. This fee varies for different forms of applications but the standard fee is 300.

This might be the basic surface level answer but its not the complete one. The process is not over yet, only the registration submission has been done. After, many complimentary and mandatory obligations for your business will be require from you and the consequent costs of each step in the process will add up to the total bill. There will be side charges and unofficial expenses along the way as well.

Here is a breakage of the 3 main factors that will affect your total cost.

The company stamp.

Like any business, you need a unique logo to seal official deals and documents that are important to your business operations. Stamps are generally the way to do that and the making and designing of one will cost you. The cost mostly depends on you however because you choose the material (rubber or self inking) and the intricacy of the design. The more requirements you have out of the design or the more completed your logo is the more money you will need to spend. However, if you affiliate with a registration service in Singapore, you can significantly reduce the cost as well as the time required for the stamps. The cost will come mainly from designers and the producer. Rubber ones tend to be cheaper than self-inking ones.

Company registered address.

In Singapore, you need to get a registered local office set up before you can apply for the incorporation of your company because ARCA requires a registered address to be affiliated with the company prior to application from where all business operations will be conducted. Since this needs to be taken care of before the application, you can take your time in seeking out the best economical options. You can either register a home-based office, a virtual office or rent commercial property. This is where how much to register a company in Singapore gets a bulky amount of money added to the cost. Renting will cost you about two to three thousand S dollars that is in the central business district of Singapore for a minimal serviced office of three workers. There will also be additional fees for other amenities like meeting and conference rooms that will cost you about 50 S$ per hour each time you use them. Registering your own residence as the office will help sav the cost as it is allowed under home office scheme in Singapore but you will need approval from Housing & Development Board (HBD) first. Another trick is to register as a virtual office which will be much cheaper, the process for that is a little different and you might need to look up how your incorporation agent is involved in that.

Company tax reporting

Tax reporting is the most crucial compliance obligation that will be asked of you in the incorporation process. There will be no tax fees in the process itself however. Corporate taxes by all Singaporean companies are expected to be fled by the last of November in hard copy and mid of December (15th) for e-filing. Even though the base incorporation taxis 17% in Singapore, you can toggle with it and finally the cost you end up paying will depend on some of the choices you make and different approaches taken by you. You can utilize Start-Up Tax Exemption Scheme (SUTE) which gives different percentages of relief to startup companies on first business revenue. The first 100,000 of taxable corporate revenue gets 75% exemption and the next 100,000 gets half exemption and the trend continues. Another clever approach is calculating corporate taxes from profits instead of total business revenue, other incentives provided by government agencies and tax cuts and exemption schemes should also be applied for and used. These will help your company have a solid footing in the start and not crumble due to just the taxation. Companies with international affiliations should take use of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) and not pay simultaneous caproates taxes across multiple countries.

If you want to know more about the accumulated costs of Singapore company registration or want to reduce your over all expenses, head over to our site and get the best professional guidance for all your queries.