Company Registration in Singapore | Steps of the process

Like other countries, Singapore has its own set of rules and regulations for getting a company registered in Singapore: -

• As per the Singapore Companies Act, any person above the age of 18 years is allowed to register a company in Singapore.
• ACRA (Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority) needs to approve the company name. ACRA is a statutory board under the Ministry of Finance, Singapore Government. 
• The company must have at least one resident director in Singapore. He should be above 18 years of age, should not have a criminal background and should not be bankrupt.
• A private limited company needs to have between 1-50 shareholders. 100% foreign ownership is permitted.
• As per Section 171 of the Act, the company has to appoint a company secretary within 6 months of incorporation.
• The minimum paid-up capital of the company has to be S$1 for registration. The amount can be increased to any value after incorporation.
• The business address of the company needs to be a local address. It could be a residential or a commercial address but not a Post office Box no. 
• Tax exemptions and incentives - Only 8.5% taxes need to be paid on the initial S$300,000 annual profits and thereafter straight 17%. There are no dividend or capital gain taxes. 
• Foreigners are not allowed to self-register their companies in Singapore. 
• For a foreigner who intends to run the business in Singapore but not settles down in Singapore, can visit on a visitor visa while living in any other country. A local resident director, however, is required to be stationed in Singapore.
• In case the foreigner wishes to operate the company locally he needs to have an employment pass or entrepreneur pass. 

The documents required for company registration in Singapore include:-

1. Company name
2. Brief details of the business activities
3. Particulars of shareholders
4. Particulars of directors
5. The registered address
6. Particulars of the company secretary
7. Memorandum and Articles of Association drafted as per the prescribed format of Singapore Company Registrar.
8. Copy of Singapore Identity card in case of local residents and a copy of passport, proof of overseas residential address and Know-Your-Client (KYC) document from banks, a reference from business profiles etc.

Steps of the process

1. The first step is to reserve the company name. Any company formed in Singapore has to get its name approved by the Singapore Government. The entire process is overseen by the Company Registrar. Inclusions of certain words in the company name can slow down the approval process. It is better to seek professional help for the entire company registration process in Singapore. There are rules related to choosing a company name and one has to adhere to it. 
2. After the company name is approved by the Registrar of Companies the incorporation application will be processed by them. Within a couple of hours, the process is completed and the certificate of incorporation will be emailed by ACRA to the official email id along with the registration number.