Singapore's GST treatment of investment funds is one of those areas that gets a passing mention in most VCC and family office guides, then quietly ignored until a fund administrator asks the company secretary why the fund has not filed its Statement of Claims. The mechanism, a GST remission that allows qualifying funds to recover [...]
Most coverage of MAS's new single family office (SFO) framework, which took effect on 15 June 2026, focuses on the tax and structuring angle: what it means for 13O and 13U eligibility, and how it replaces the old individual no-action letter practice. Less attention has gone to what it actually means operationally for the company [...]
When a corporate secretarial firm takes on a Variable Capital Company (VCC) or a family office fund vehicle as a client, the work looks superficially similar to servicing an ordinary Singapore private company. There is still a board, a secretary, a registered office, and an annual return. Underneath that surface, the mechanics change substantially. A [...]
When a creditor seeks to wind up a Singapore company on the ground of insolvency, the most common gateway is to first serve a statutory demand on the debtor company and wait 21 days. If the company fails to pay the debt, secure or compound it to the creditor's satisfaction within those 21 days, the [...]
If your business was incorporated overseas but your operations, clients, or investment base are increasingly centred on Singapore, you may not need to set up a new subsidiary. Singapore's inward re-domiciliation regime allows a foreign corporate entity to transfer its registration directly to Singapore, effectively becoming a Singapore company while preserving legal continuity. This guide [...]
If you have read a Singapore-law shareholders' agreement in the past five years, you have almost certainly seen a clause titled "Drag-Along Rights". It looks technical and is often skipped over in negotiation. That is a mistake. Drag-along rights determine, in plain language, whether the majority shareholders can force you to sell your shares on [...]
One of the most quietly significant changes in the Corporate and Accounting Laws (Amendment) Act 2025 (CALA Act) — which commenced its first tranche on 6 May 2026 — is the new permission for a sole director to also serve as the company secretary of a Singapore private company. For more than five decades, Section [...]
There are seven types of tax-deductible donations. Please note that not all apply to corporate donors. 1) Cash Donations for Local Causes Cash donations to approved Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) or the Singapore Government, intended to support local community causes, are tax-deductible for corporate and individual donors. Donations to registered charities without [...]
In BizFile+, which is the business filing system operated by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) in Singapore, an "Alternate Address" is an optional address that directors, secretaries, and other company officers can use instead of their residential address in public records. The alternate address must be in the same country as the residential [...]
The Annual Wage Supplement (AWS), also known as the 13th-month bonus, is a customary year-end payment in Singapore given to employees on top of their 12 months of regular salary. The AWS is typically equivalent to one month’s salary and is intended to reward employees for their yearly contributions. Here are some key points about [...]