Professional Services

Singapore is well-recognized as a global business hub and is an excellent choice for aspiring entrepreneurs to start their business ventures. At Business Library you will receive complete assistance at every step of the process of establishing a business identity in Singapore. The following are the different types of entities that business owners can setup:

Sole-Proprietorship
Limited Partnership
Limited Liability Partnership
Private Limited Company

Your decision on the ideal business vehicle to conduct your business activities will influence the nature of the operation as follows:

Ease of business formation and exit
Business ownership transfer
Amount of taxes you need to pay
The extent of personal liability you are potentially exposed to
Amount of administration and paperwork
Ability to obtain loans and borrowings

At this point, if you are confused and have doubts about setting up your business vehicles, please feel free to contact our directors regarding this matter and they will advice you willingly. Otherwise you can refer to the comprehensive and concise table

Types of Companies Structure Sole Proprietorship Limited Partnership Limited Liability Partnership Private Limited Company

Suitable For Individual with low risk Usually for Professional firms such as accountancy, law and architecture. All other business qualify as well. Usually for Professional firms such as accountancy, law and architecture. All other business qualify as well. For businesses with projected growth, which may require additional funding for expansion.

Advantages Low setup cost Low setup cost Low setup cost with limited liability protection High Corporate Tax exemptions especially for new start-ups
Limited liability protection for shareholders
Perpetual succession planning
Dividends are tax-exempted on shareholders

Disadvantages Personal Assets Not Protected Personal Assets Not Protected for General Partner. A general partner is responsible for the actions of an Limited Partnership and liable for all debts and obligations of the Limited Partnership
Partnership net revenue is split in accordance to partnership agreement and taxed on a personal tax rate.
A limited partner is not liable for debts and obligations of the LP beyond his agreed contribution, provided he does not take part in the management of the LP. Partnership net revenue is split in accordance to partnership agreement and taxed on a personal tax rate. Compliance obligations such as Financial Reports, AGMs etc.

Ownership Singapore Residents
Foreigners & Corporations allowed only with appointment of a local manager Singapore Residents
•Foreigners & Corporations allowed
Appointing a local manager is not mandatory unless all the general partners are residing outside Singapore. Singapore Residents
Foreigners & Corporations allowed only with appointment of a local manager •100% foreign or locally owned but Minimum one Singapore Resident Director required

Separate Legal Entity No No Yes Yes

Cap on Number of Members One Unlimited Unlimited Maximum 20 for exempt companies`

Minimum Setup Requirement One owner 1 General Partner
1 Limited Partner 2 partners 1 shareholder and 1 director (the same individual can be both)

Limited Liability No No for General Partner
Yes for Limited Partner Yes Yes

Accounts Audit No No No Yes, for turnover above S$5 Million or non-exempt companies

Tax Treatment Taxed at personal income tax rate Taxed at personal income tax rate Taxed at personal income tax rate Dividends are tax exempt

Every company shall have at least one director who is a resident in Singapore i.e. Singapore Citizen, Singapore Permanent Resident or Singapore Employment Pass holder. The director should be a natural person of full age and capacity.

Our nominee director service is designed to ensure that the Singapore legal requirement is complied with, whilst maintaining the privacy of our client and at the same time allow them to operate and manage the company as if they were the director. It is mandatory that you have to subscribe to our corporate secretarial, accounting and corporate tax services if you engage our nominee director services.

The names and addresses of company directors and shareholders are required to be registered with Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority ("ACRA"). This information is publicly available to anybody that wishes to view this information. If you wish to retain anonymity and confidentiality, you will need to appoint a nominee.

The essence of a nominee service is that it is the names of the nominee directors and/or shareholders that are indicated in the corporate documentation, according to their designation. Thus the names and personal details of the company's beneficial owners are not disclosed to the Registry of Companies, so that our clients are ensured the utmost confidentiality.

Every Private Limited Company in Singapore mandated under Companies Act Cap 50. requires the company to appoint at least one local company secretary. This role though important is often overlook by directors. The company secretary must be someone capable of:

Drafting directors' resolution for all corporate actions.
Holding annual AGM requirements.
Mandatory annual filing with ACRA
XBRL conversion of financial statements
Remind Directors and management of reporting deadlines to ACRA and IRAS
Advise on corporate secretarial compliance issues
Maintaining of Statutory Registers and Minute Books

We are more than capable to provide all the mentioned task of a professional corporate secretary. That's the reason why our clients insist we hold this role for them as soon as they engage us to incorporate a company. They know they are in safe hands.

Every business establishment is required by law to maintain the accounting records in compliance with the Singapore Companies Act and Singapore Financial Reporting Standards.

Let Business Library do the mundane and time consuming task of book keeping while you concentrate on developing and growing your business. By outsourcing your accounting functions, you get to enjoy immediate cost savings compared to employing a full time accounting staff (I.e Monthly salary, CPF, bonus and sick leave) and also resources on infrastructure such as software and maintenance cost.

Another important benefit you can enjoy is that you no longer worry about staff turnover and lack of continuity of accounting service. We provide a full suite of accounting functions:

Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly book-keeping
Group consolidation
Preparation of audit schedules and liase on behalf with auditors
Adhoc management reports and forecast

Income Tax

Personal income tax rates in Singapore are one of the lowest in the world. In order to determine the Singapore income tax liability of an individual, you need to first determine the tax residency and amount of chargeable income and then apply the progressive tax rate to it.

Generally Singaporeans/PRs or those who live and work long enough in Singapore file their own personal tax online with ease. However, if you are a someone who are unclear about your tax rights, please contact our professionals to solve your doubts. We will be delighted to provide advisory in the aforesaid matters.

Goods and Services Tax ("GST")

GST is the value added tax on domestic consumption, designed for the tax burden to fall on the final consumer. The current rate in Singapore is 7%. According to the GST Act, GST must be charged on any supply of goods or services made in Singapore where it is a taxable supply made by a taxable person in the course or furtherance of any business carried on by him.

It becomes compulsory to register to collect GST if the company’s annual turnover is expected to exceed or has exceeded S$1m from the sale of taxable goods and services. However, a company may also apply to collect GST voluntarily so that claiming of GST can be done with respect to business purchases. When the registration is voluntarily, the company will have to stay registered for a minimum of 2 years.

You will need to consider a few factors when you register voluntarily:

Cost of implementing a sound GST accounting system to track the GST returns.
Amount of GST purchase claimable from IRAS.
Profile of customers and suppliers.

Business Library provide advisory on your GST decision making and further on in ensuring GST compliance. We will implement GST accounting as well as prepare and submit GST returns on your behalf. It's really that simple once you engage us.

Corporate Tax Advisory

All business decisions have tax implications and not every director is able to face a daunting task in managing their tax requirements efficiently. We at Business Library advise our clients on all aspects of corporate tax compliance.

Our range of tax services comprises:

Corporate tax planning and compliance
Preparation and submission of corporate tax computation ("Form C/Form CS")
Preparation and submission of Estimated Chargeable Income ("ECI")
Liaise with tax authorities in regards to tax queries raised

Our objective is the same as yours - Identify and implement tax strategies that work best within the company to minimise tax liability while ensuring compliance with the Singapore tax law.

Your company may be exempted for audit requirement if:

It is a Private Exempt Company ("EPC"), EPC means no corporate shareholder in the company and the number of shareholders in the company is not more than 20.

Annual revenue of the company does not exceed $5 million for financing years starting on and after 1 June 2004.

Shareholders who represent 5% or more of a company's ordinary shares does not request for audit, or

Banks or other creditors/financial Companies does not require auditing.

Company that is exempt from audit and filing requirement is still required to prepare a full set of financial statements (Compilation Report) including explanatory notes and must accompanied by the Directors' Report and the Statement by Directors, and must be prepared in compliance with the Singapore Companies Act Cap. 50 and Singapore Financial Reporting Standards ("SFRS").

Be assured of professional competence and due care when your financial report is being prepared by our professionals. We are an authorised firm registered with Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority ("ACRA") and approved member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.

One of the most important tasks for all businesses is the preparation of payroll and payment of salary. The process can be further complicated, more time-consuming and error-prone with additional components such as benefits, allowances, deductions, government remittance, etc.

It is of no surprise that consequently many SMEs choose to outsource their payroll function to accounting firms to minimize errors and maximize productivity. Furthermore, payroll information are sensitive and it can be kept confidential at offsite facilities.

We provide comprehensive support for payroll function such as integrating and facilitating salaries payment and CPF contributions, generating annual Income Tax Return (IR8A), assessment and submission of tax clearance (IR21) for work pass holders and calculating pro-rated salary and bonuses. Our service ensures that government remittances such as CPF are paid on time, tax filing requirements are adhered to.

XBRL

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a language for the electronic communication of business and financial data. ACRA believes that the use of XBRL will achieve the objectives of facilitating the conduct of business in Singapore, providing more value-added financial information and enhancing the regulatory environment with improved transparency and timely dissemination of relevant financial information.

From late Oct 2013 onwards, all Singapore incorporated companies which are either unlimited or limited by shares will need to file a full set of financial statements in XBRL. Business Library can assist you to prepare your annual report in XBRL format.

Annual Filing

Pursuant to the Singapore Companies Act (Cap. 50), every company having a share capital shall lodge a return containing its particulars, with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority ("ACRA"). We keep in mind all our clients' filing deadline and ensure filing compliance are adhered to.

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