Starting a Business
For Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, you will just need to bring along your NRIC. For foreigners, a copy of your passport and a copy of bank/credit card statement which indicates your place of residence. Information that you need to confirm before setting up a company are:
- Name of Company
- Business Activities of the Company
- Share Capital Amount and Corresponding Number of Shares
- An address for your Company (We do provide registered address services)
- People involved who will be directors and/or shareholders (with their allocated shareholdings)
Yes you can. The company can be set up if you are able to act as a director of the Company to satisfy the local director requirement. During the setup process, if your overseas business partner is able to visit Singapore, you can then come down to our office together. Do remind him to bring along his or her passport and a copy of his bank/credit statements as proof of residence. If your overseas business partner cannot come to Singapore, we will prepare a copy of Letter of Intent to set up a company for him/her to get it notarized (together with his passport) in his country. We will set up the company after receiving the original notarized documents. Alternatively, we may also do video calls (subject to recording) where available to verify the identity of the overseas partner.
A Singapore company requires at least One Local Director. The director is a company officer who is fundamentally responsible for the ongoing operations as well as to ensure regulatory compliance are met locally.
You will only be able to set up a Singapore Company if you are able to secure a local partner who must be a director of the Company. Do note that the local Director cannot be removed nor resign on his/her own accord if you do not have another incoming local director.
It really depends on how small, risky or profitable your business really is and whether operating through a business vehicle will improve your sales opportunities. Do take note that regardless of whether you have a business vehicle or not, your income earned needs to be reported for tax submission.
A sole proprietorship or partnership does not limit business risks and thus may affect your personal assets. These modes are suitable for businesses that are low in Risk, Profit and Volume. Income earned are subject to personal income tax. This means that if you are running a small business on top of your usual employment, your personal income subjected to tax will be the sum of your employment income and your business profits. Running a sole prop or partnership involves annual costs like renewal fees, accounting and tax.
A company is the best form of business entity if any of the expected, Risk, Profit and Volume is not low. Company profits are taxed under the corporate tax regime with different tax rates compared to the personal tax system. Running a company usually involves annual costs like company secretary, accounting and taxes to continually be compliant with the regulations. A company presents the best opportunity to grow your business as well as the added protection given towards your personal assets against business risks.
9 out of 10 Singapore companies are not required by law to appoint an auditor for the company.
You will need to appoint an auditor for your company if your company* are not able to meet at least 2 out of the following 3 criteria:
- Turnover of $10M or less
- Staff Strength of 50 or less
- Asset amount of $10M or less
*If your company belongs to a Group, the entire group must meet at least 2 of the above conditions to be exempt from audit. Every company in the Group will need to be audited if the conditions cannot be met.
It is now common practice to own a domain name and website to run most businesses. You may visit Vodien to purchase your domain name and web hosting plan to kickstart your online identity.
