Starting a business in Singapore
BizFile registers a Pte Ltd in a day - the one hard requirement for foreigners is the local resident director, and the tax exemptions do the rest of the selling.
Checked against the sources on 2026-08-30
Before anything else
Singapore’s process is as clean as the reputation: ACRA’s BizFile portal registers a sole proprietorship for S$115 or a private limited company for S$315, usually within the day. The company is the default choice at almost any seriousness - the startup tax exemptions (75% off the first S$100k of chargeable income for three years, then partial exemptions) and the flat 17% rate make it cheap to run profitably.
The one structural hurdle for foreign founders: every company needs at least one director who is ordinarily resident in Singapore (citizen, PR, or holder of the right pass). Nominee-director services exist at a price; the requirement is where every remote-founding plan meets reality.
The legal shell
Sole proprietorship or Pte Ltd?
Sole proprietorship
Local individuals with small, low-risk trade.
S$115 (S$15 name + S$100 registration), renewable annually.
No shield, personal rates, annual renewal - locals outgrow it fast.
Private limited (Pte Ltd)
Nearly everything else.
S$315; no minimum capital beyond S$1.
The resident-director requirement, a company secretary within six months, and annual filings with ACRA and IRAS.
The sequence
Register on BizFile
Where: bizfile.gov.sg, with Singpass (or through a filing agent for foreigners)Cost: S$115-315Takes: Usually same day
Name approval and incorporation in one flow; foreigners without Singpass must file through a registered agent, which in practice bundles the nominee director and secretary.
Meet the officers requirements
Resident director from day one, company secretary within six months, a registered office address, and an auditor unless small-company exempt (most startups are).
Corporate tax and the exemptions
Where: IRAS via myTax portal
Estimated chargeable income files within three months of year end; the startup exemption and partial exemption apply automatically when claimed. No tax on capital gains or dividends paid out - the reason holding structures live here.
GST only at scale
Registration is compulsory at S$1 million of annual taxable turnover - high enough that most services startups defer it for years. Voluntary registration to reclaim input GST carries a two-year commitment.
What it costs to start
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pte Ltd registration | S$315 |
| Nominee director (foreigners)Plus a deposit commonly. | S$1,500-3,000/year |
| Secretary + address bundle | S$300-800/year |
| Corporate taxEffective single digits early. | 17% with startup exemptions |
The words on the forms
- ACRA / BizFile
- The registrar and its portal.
- Singpass
- The digital identity locals file with.
- UEN
- The unique entity number every business carries.
- Resident director
- The one hard requirement for foreign founders.
- IRAS
- The tax authority.
- ECI
- The estimated chargeable income filing after year end.
- GST
- Compulsory only at S$1M turnover.
The traps
- Underpricing the nominee-director cost in the remote-founding budget.
- Missing the secretary deadline at month six.
- Assuming Singapore incorporation moves personal tax residency - it does not.
- Voluntary GST registration for the look of it, with the two-year lock-in.
Where to check this yourself
This is a map, not legal or tax advice - and an honest one about how it was drawn: the Germany guide was written by a person who walked the route; most other countries were drafted with AI against the official sources and have not yet been walked by someone who did it. Laws change. Every guide carries the date it was last checked and the sources to check it yourself - and if you have been through one of these routes, your corrections are exactly what this handbook wants.