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For nearly every founder, a Singapore company means a private company limited by shares registered under the Companies Act 1967 with ACRA, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, its name ending in “Private Limited”, usually shortened to Pte. Ltd. It can trade, employ staff, invoice abroad and hold shares in other companies, and a foreign parent can own it outright as a subsidiary. It is not a zero-tax shell: a Pte Ltd needs officers living in Singapore, keeps public records on Bizfile and pays corporate income tax, lightened in its early years by statutory exemptions.
| Form | Main features | Usual choice for |
|---|---|---|
| Pte Ltd (private limited) | From one to 50 shareholders, people or companies, of any nationality; at least one issued share and one Singapore dollar of share capital | Most founders, and foreign parents setting up a subsidiary |
| Exempt private company | A Pte Ltd with 20 or fewer shareholders, where the only corporate shareholder ACRA permits is an LLP; while solvent it is spared filing financial statements with ACRA | Owner-managed companies held by individuals |
| Limited liability partnership | Two or more partners and no share capital; profits are taxed in the partners’ hands | Partners who want limited liability without shares |
| Foreign company branch | The foreign company itself, fully liable, with one locally resident authorised representative | A foreign company trading in Singapore under its own name |
How each is registered on Bizfile is on our page on company formation in Singapore.
| Item | Rule for a Singapore company |
|---|---|
| Corporate income tax | 17% of chargeable income, for local and foreign-owned companies alike |
| Partial tax exemption | Three quarters of the first 10,000 Singapore dollars of chargeable income and half of the following 190,000 are exempt, about 8.3% effective on the first 200,000 |
| Start-up tax exemption | Larger exemptions in the first three consecutive years of assessment, for a company with at most 20 shareholders that are all individuals or include one individual owning 10% or more; not for investment holding or property development |
| Rebate for YA 2026 | Half of the tax payable, up to 40,000 Singapore dollars including the cash grant |
| GST | 9%; compulsory registration once taxable turnover exceeds 1 million Singapore dollars in a calendar year, or is expected to over the next 12 months |
| Dividends | One-tier system: the company’s tax is final, and its dividends are generally not taxable in the shareholders’ hands |
| Tax treaties | Comprehensive agreements with around ninety jurisdictions |
A Pte Ltd owned by a foreign parent fails the start-up shareholder test, and an older company may have spent its start-up years while dormant; both rely on the partial exemption.
Shareholders may be individuals or companies of any nationality, living anywhere, and one of them may hold every share. The board is where Singapore asks more. Under section 145 of the Companies Act at least one director must be ordinarily resident in Singapore, which ACRA takes to mean a citizen, a permanent resident or a holder of an Employment Pass, a Personalised Employment Pass or a ONE Pass. That director cannot validly resign while no other resident director is in office, and members aware that the company has carried on business for over six months without one become liable for its debts of that period. The company secretary must live mainly in Singapore and may not be the sole director, and the registered office must be a Singapore address, without minimum opening hours since 20 October 2026.
Ownership information sits in closed registers. Anyone holding more than 25% of the shares or votes, or exercising significant control, is recorded as a registrable controller in the company’s own register and in ACRA’s central register, neither open to the public. Since 16 June 2025 nominee directors and nominee shareholders are declared to ACRA too. Shareholders, directors and secretaries, by contrast, are visible to anyone on Bizfile.
Where nobody in your business qualifies as resident, we arrange the resident director, the company secretary and, if requested, a nominee shareholder solely through a corporate service provider registered with ACRA, since by way of business these roles may lawfully be filled no other way; the law gives a nominee director no relief from any director’s duty, and every nominee is declared to ACRA and flagged ND or NS in the company’s Business Profile, while you are recorded as the nominator.
Banks are licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and each publishes its own criteria for companies owned from abroad. DBS, for example, sends such applications to a Relationship Manager and wants a business presence in Asia and evidence of the owners’ source of wealth; the digital banks onboard in an app but need Singpass, which is open only to citizens, permanent residents and pass holders. Singapore dollar deposits of companies are insured up to 100,000 Singapore dollars per depositor at each member of the Deposit Insurance Scheme. Companies sold with an account are not readily available here, as banks repeat their checks when the owners change, so plan an application after any purchase. Bank by bank detail is on our page on bank accounts for Singapore companies.
A new Pte Ltd is the default. ACRA approves most registrations soon after payment, the name and constitution are yours from the start, the start-up exemption runs from the company’s first years, and an EntrePass applicant avoids the renewal criteria that MOM applies to companies more than 12 months old.
A shelf company in Singapore earns its place when an earlier date of incorporation matters, because counterparties can read it in the Business Profile and in the opening digits of the UEN. Set that against start-up years that may already have run, a complete change of officers visible to anyone, stamp duty on the transfer and no bank account. The purchase is explained on our page on buying a shelf company in Singapore.
For the two Asian hubs side by side, read our Hong Kong vs Singapore comparison, and for what company age does and does not prove, our guide to aged shelf companies.
We can incorporate a new Pte Ltd or supply a ready-made one, prepare the incorporation or share transfer documents and the Bizfile filings, which a registered corporate service provider lodges, help you put the bank application together and, if we have a working contact at a bank that fits the company, introduce you, leaving the decision to the bank.
It is a Pte Ltd with no more than 20 shareholders, whom ACRA describes as individuals, with an LLP the only corporate shareholder allowed. The practical difference is filing: a solvent exempt private company need not file its financial statements with ACRA. It still files an annual return, keeps its registers and pays corporate income tax like any other Pte Ltd.
Private Limited. Section 27 of the Companies Act makes a limited company’s name end in “Limited” or “Berhad”, with “Private” or “Sendirian” before it for a private company, and permits the short forms Pte, Ltd, Sdn and Bhd. “Example Pte. Ltd.” and “Example Private Limited” are the same name written two ways.
Not in the usual sense. A Pte Ltd pays corporate income tax at 17% on its chargeable income whoever owns it, needs a director and a secretary who live in Singapore, files an annual return and reports its controllers to ACRA. It suits a business with real activity in or through Singapore; a company with no local officers and no tax does not exist here.
Anyone can buy a company’s Business Profile on Bizfile and see its shareholders, directors and secretary. The people behind them are less visible: registrable controllers are kept in the company’s register and ACRA’s central register, which only ACRA and authorised public agencies may inspect. A nominee director or shareholder is flagged ND or NS in the profile, without the nominator’s name.
Singapore asks more of the board, a director ordinarily resident there as well as a resident secretary, while Hong Kong needs only a resident secretary. On tax, Singapore charges 17% with partial and start-up exemptions and GST at 9%; Hong Kong taxes only Hong Kong sourced profits, at 8.25% and 16.5%, and has no VAT. The answer depends on where the business really operates.
Weighing a Singapore Pte Ltd? Let us know whether a new company or an existing one on the register would suit you, and whether anyone in your team lives in Singapore, and we will explain what either route needs. Use our contact page; Telegram and WhatsApp also work, on +48 663 247 166.