Running payroll in Singapore looks simple on the surface — there is no employee income tax to withhold, no equivalent of pay-as-you-earn, and IRAS does not collect tax monthly. But Singapore has its own discipline: monthly Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions, monthly Skills Development Levy (SDL), monthly Foreign Worker Levy (FWL) where applicable, annual income [...]
Singapore has cemented itself as Asia's leading family office hub. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) reported that the number of single family offices in Singapore had crossed 2,000 by the end of 2024, with the trajectory continuing to climb through 2026 as more high-net-worth families and Asian principals consolidate their wealth-management activities here. Yet [...]
If you are a foreign entrepreneur looking to start an innovative or venture-backed business in Singapore, the EntrePass is one of the few work pass routes available to you. Unlike the Employment Pass — which requires you to be sponsored by an existing employer — the EntrePass allows you to be the founder, the shareholder, [...]
13O or 13U? The Question Every Family Office Faces For families establishing a Singapore family office, two tax incentive schemes dominate the conversation: Section 13O (Onshore Fund Tax Incentive) and Section 13U (Enhanced-Tier Fund Tax Incentive). Both exempt qualifying fund income from Singapore tax. Both are administered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). But [...]
Closing down a Singapore company is rarely a decision business owners take lightly. Whether the venture has run its course, the founders have moved on to other projects, or a holding entity is no longer needed, the cleanest way to wind things up — for most small, solvent, non-trading companies — is to strike the [...]
Singapore's Global Investor Programme (GIP) remains one of the most direct routes for high-net-worth investors to obtain Singapore Permanent Residence (PR) — but it is also one of the most misunderstood. Administered by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the GIP is not a passive "investor visa" handed out for parking money in a bank [...]
Singapore's headline corporate tax rate sits at a flat 17%, and that single number is the marketing line everyone remembers. The reality is more nuanced. Between the partial tax exemption, the start-up exemption for qualifying new companies, the YA 2026 Corporate Income Tax (CIT) Rebate, and a basket of incentives administered by IRAS, EDB, and [...]
Singapore's Variable Capital Company (VCC) and the Cayman Islands Segregated Portfolio Company (SPC) are now the two most frequently compared fund structures for Asia-focused asset managers. For decades, Cayman dominated: it offered flexibility, a light-touch regulatory regime, and deep familiarity among institutional investors globally. That consensus is shifting rapidly. Since the VCC framework launched in [...]
Singapore businesses have access to some of the world's most generous government grant support. Three grants in particular sit at the heart of Enterprise Singapore's assistance framework: the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG), the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG), and the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) grant. Each serves a different purpose, and choosing the wrong one — [...]
Running a Singapore company involves a calendar of recurring obligations to ACRA, IRAS, MOM, and CPF. Miss a deadline and the consequences range from late filing penalties of S$300–S$600 with ACRA, to compounded GST penalties with IRAS, to disqualification of directors in serious cases. The good news: every deadline is predictable once you know your [...]