Private limited company is the Singapore’s most preferred entity among both local and foreign individual entrepreneurs and businesses because of the flexibility that it offers.
A private limited company is a locally incorporated company where the maximum number of shareholders is limited to 50. Besides being the most popular structure in Singapore, it is also a common choice to set up an investment holding structure starting with a Singapore entity before expanding/investing to the rest of Asia.
The private limited company entity type is limited by shares, and it is a separate legal entity from its shareholders, meaning it is also recognised as a taxable entity. Shareholders of a private limited company will not be liable for its debts and losses beyond the amount of share capital they each own.
As such, private limited companies are usually required to have a suffix “Private Limited”, “Pte Ltd” or “Ltd” as part of their company name. The registration of companies in Singapore is done through the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). If you are not registered with ACRA, you cannot do business in Singapore.
An incorporation occurs instantly within one business day if there are no complications.
It can be fully foreign-owned business and does not require for a local shareholder to be involved. If needed, joint venture with a local partner is seamless as there are no restrictions on the type or percentage share of ownership for such entity.
Profits taxed at corporate tax rates and dividends are tax-free in the hands of shareholders just like any other fully locally-owned limited company. The effective tax rate for the first S$300,000 of annual profit is at 8.5% and 17% thereafter, one of the lowest across the whole of Asia. Additionally, newly incorporated companies are entitled to tax incentives and exemptions regardless of the type of ownership (foreign/local).
The company name must be unique and not used by others.
The list seems heavy but the Singapore government had a tech empowered environment making such compliance procedures less cumbersome. These are best managed if one work with a creditable service provider as most can manage all of the above while the business focuses on developing the growth of the commercial of the company.
Company Business Profile – the Company Registrar will produce a company business profile for your Singapore register company after the company registration process is done. The PDF file contains:
After obtaining email notification and company business profile, you can proceed with all legal and contractual tasks in Singapore such as:
Application for business licenses – there are some businesses that you might need a special license. This applies to companies that perform activities related to: