Singapore and India have friendly and strong bilateral relations. There is a CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement) and strategic-relationship agreement between both the nations. It helped to increase trade, economic cooperation, investments, and bilateral cooperation between both countries.
Until 2018, around 8,000 Indian companies have registered their businesses in Singapore since 2000. The numbers have been on the increase since then. Every year there are more than 3,000 Singapore company registrations from India now.
We have compiled a simple guide for you with all the main questions they had, and every new business owner has. This guide will provide you the necessary insights to make the most of business opportunities available in Singapore and to become one of the successful business owners there.
The corporate tax rate is quite low in Singapore. Another great thing is that newly registered companies enjoy several tax exemptions. The company registration process is simple and can be done within a day. Both locals and foreigners can register their business easily in Singapore. As a foreigner, you can hold 100% shares in your company. The quality of life is also great in Singapore. The World Bank had ranked Singapore several times as the easiest place to do business in the world. Even in 2019, Singapore was named as the second easiest place to do business in the world.
Singapore is also known as a startup hub due to secure access to government and private funding. There are grants, incubators, angel investing networks, venture capitalist firms to provide the necessary funding to startups, and even to established businesses that need funding to develop more.
No, you do not have to visit Singapore to register your company. You can register your business and run it from overseas with ease. You just need to be physically present at the time of the corporate bank account opening. You can engage a local registration service provider to take care of everything else.
Yes, you can easily relocate to Singapore after the registration of your company. You must obtain a work visa called Employment Pass that you can receive in six weeks. You must be able to pay yourself a monthly salary to become eligible for an Employment Pass. You are required to pay yourself a minimum wage of S$3,600 (if you are a university graduate) to act as a director of your company. If you are more mature and experienced, your minimum salary has to be around S$6,000-S$8,000. In case you plan to bring your family members under Dependant Passes, this is the basic pay you must be able to give yourself.
No, you do not have to hire employees for your company in Singapore. You just need to have a resident director and a company secretary to comply with the requirements of the Singapore Companies Act. You can register your Singapore company from India and run it without hiring any employees.
You need to fulfill three requirements to register a company in Singapore from India.
You can apply for an Employment Pass and move to Singapore to become the only director of your company. You can also hire a local director, including yourself, to fulfill this requirement. You can have as many directors as you want in your company as long as there is one local director in the company.
A Corporate Secretary is a certified person responsible for reporting and administrative duties mandated by Singapore law. The primary duty of a company secretary is to ensure that the company complies with all the statutory obligations.
A local address is required to be used as a registered office address.
Epica provides all three services for your convenience.
If you do not have a resident director for your company, you can make use of our Nominee Director Service. A nominee director can assist you in both scenarios:
A nominee director is an officer of the company on papers. A nominee director does not have any authoritative powers to make crucial decisions or run the company. A nominee director only fulfills the mandatory requirements.
See also: Who is the Nominee Director?
The minimum paid-up capital in Singapore can be S$1, which you can increase later, so it is not an issue.
S$3,000-S$5,000 is the average service cost of registering a company in Singapore provided by local registration service providers. This cost must include the registration fee, government fee, and other mandatory services for the first year. The obligatory services include a nominee director, a company secretary, and a local registered office address. The service that costs the most is the nominee director service, which would cost around S$2000. Many agencies would ask you to put a security deposit of around S$2000 with them. The deposit is considered as insurance for the nominee director. You get it back after you terminate the nominee director services, or his contract expires. You can hire someone you know save the cost of the security deposit.
S$2,500-S$5,000 is the annual retaining fee to manage your business operations that include a nominee director, a corporate secretary, a local office address, and filing of annual returns.
S$1,000-S$1,500 is the cost of Employment Pass in case you wish to relocate to Singapore. It will save you paying for nominee director service.
S$500-S$600 is the cost of Dependant Passes if you want to bring your family together to Singapore.
S$50-S$500 is the fee that you must pay to obtain licenses for business activities like import-export and tourism. The cost of licenses depends on the industry.
S$800 is the monthly cost of renting an office in Singapore. You can also opt for a co-working space, which would cost you around S$550.
Singapore is an ideal place to register a company from India. The fast registration process and easily accessible grants make it the best option to start your business. Epica will also help you in this endeavor of yours by providing all the necessary services.
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