Singapore Company Compliance
How often does a Singapore corporation needs to file its tax return?
Corporate tax returns must be filed on an annual basis by November 30 of each Year of Assessment. The Year of Assessment (YA) is the tax year in which income tax is calculated and charged. Tax is calculated on a preceding year basis i.e. profits of the preceding accounting year will form the basis for assessment for the current YA. For example, for YA 2010, the basis of taxation will be the accounting period from April 1 2008 - March 31 2009. Annual tax returns include the following information and documents:
- Declaration of income in the prescribed format, known as the Form C that is issued by the Singapore tax department.
- Audited or unaudited accounts.
- Tax computation i.e. a statement showing adjustments made to net profit/loss to arrive at the taxable income.
Note: A Singapore corporation must declare its Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) within 3 months of its financial year-end, by filing an ECI form with the tax department.
Is there a checklist for ongoing and annual compliance requirements for a Singapore corporation?
Please refer to our 'Singapore Company Compliance Checklist' below:
| Compliance Item | Compliance Action |
| Appointing an auditor | A Singapore company must appoint an auditor within 3 months from its incorporation date, unless it is exempt from the audit requirement.* |
| Auditing financial accounts | Non-exempt companies must audit their accounts annually. |
| Maintaining accounting Records | Singapore companies must maintain all accounting records for at least 5 years. |
| Notification of changes | The Company Registrar must be intimated of any change in the company or its officers. |
| Disclosing Company Registration Number | Every Singapore company must publish its company registration number on its business stationery, invoices, account statements, official notices, etc. |
| Preparing financial accounts | Annual financial statements must be prepared according to the Financial Reporting Standards. |
| Holding Annual General Meetings (AGMs) | AGMs must be held annually. The first AGM must be held within 18 months of the company incorporation. |
| Filing Annual Returns (AR) with Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, ACRA (Company Registrar) | AR along with audited or unaudited accounts* (as the case may be) must be filed annually with ACRA within 1 month of the AGM. |
| Filing Annual Returns (AR) with tax department | AR along with audited or unaudited accounts* (as the case may be) must be filed with the tax department by November 30 of Year of Assessment. |
| Filing Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) with tax department | A Singapore company must declare its estimated income chargeable to tax with the tax department within 3 months of its financial year end. |
* The following companies are exempt from auditing their accounts: Small exempt private companies (i.e. companies with no corporate shareholding; and < 20 shareholders; and annual turn-over < S$5 million) and dormant companies (i.e. a Singapore company with no accounting transactions during a financial year).
Can the position of a local resident director be kept vacant anytime?
No. A Singapore corporation must have a local resident director at all times. Nominee directors are allowed. We would be happy to offer you our nominee director services. Do contact us for details.
Is a Singapore company required to appoint an auditor?
According to Singapore corporate law, a Singapore Corporation must appoint an auditor within 3 months from its incorporation date, unless it has been specifically exempted from this requirement.
This naturally brings us to the question of which corporations are exempt from appointing an auditor? There are two types of corporations - small exempt private companies and dormant companies that are exempt from submitting audited accounts and are therefore exempt from appointing an auditor.
Small exempt private companies are corporations with no corporate shareholders, <20 shareholders, and an annual turnover of <S$5million. Dormant companies are Singapore corporations that have no accounting transactions during the financial year.
What are the accounting standards in Singapore?
For how long must the accounting records be kept for Singapore corporations?
A Singapore corporation must maintain its accounting records for a minimum of 5 years after the completion of the transactions or operations to which they relate.
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