What to do prior to Forming an Offshore Company in Singapore

With Singapore emerging as a popular destination for offshore company formation, a lot of business owners from around the world have rushed to the country to setup an offshore company. However, business owners who are keen on setting up a company in Singapore to take advantage of its pro-business laws and policies must take care of a few things first before trying to apply for company formation immediately.

First and foremost, foreign entrepreneurs should learn about the mandatory structural requirements of a Singapore company. While shareholders and directors can be from any country, there is a requirement of having at least one local resident director in all companies incorporated in the country. At the same time, there is a requirement to engage the services of a local company secretary. What most offshore company owners do to fulfill these criteria is work with an incorporation service provider in Singapore that provides nominee director as well as company secretary services. These services are usually provided at a nominal cost and hence it makes more sense to use the incorporation agency instead of trying to get hold of local directors and company secretaries yourself. In any case as per Singapore company law, it is mandatory for foreign business owners to utilize the services of a local incorporation agency for company formation. Hence it makes more sense to use a firm that provides for all mandatory requirements apart from actual business registration services.

Other compulsory requirement for all offshore companies in Singapore is to maintain one locally registered business address. This needs to be a proper office address and not simply a PO Box. Here too the foreign entrepreneur can use the services of a virtual office provider or try to acquire an office address on their own. Both ways are fine as Singapore laws make it easy for foreigners to rent or lease office space. Of course nowadays most incorporation service providers would help in acquiring an office address as well during company registration formalities. Hence offshore company owners simply have to work with a firm that provides all services required for setting up a business in Singapore.

Although foreign sourced income is not taxed in Singapore, it is still important you talk to a professional tax planner so that you can understand what foreign sourced income means and how you can have zero tax liabilities in Singapore. You would also need to take care of meeting the ongoing compliance requirements that include filing annual returns.

About the Author

Bryan Wong is a business analyst in the Asia-Pacific region and in his free time writes business articles. In this article, Bryan talks about Singapore Offshore Company and Singapore Limited Liability Company.

Author (bryanwong). Submitted on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 Time: 5:56 AM

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