Challenges of International Compliance in Singapore for Foreign Entrepreneurs

Many business owners may feel pressured when moving their operations to another country. All the regulations, laws, and compliance issues, such as accounting, need to be met in order to move the business entirely to the new country. This is where most businesses face trouble – international compliance.

Compared to other countries, Singapore has a great ease of doing business rating, thanks to the flexible government regulations. What some may see as challenging compliance issues here, some might see as the easiest and the most convenient.

Here are some compliance requirements that all businesses need to adhere to if they plan to expand their operations to Singapore:

Some of the challenges commonly faced when dealing with international compliance in Singapore are:

After incorporating a company in Singapore, you must hire a locally resident company secretary within 6 months from the date of incorporation.

A company secretary in Singapore must be appointed within 6 months from the date of incorporation. The company secretary must be trained and qualified to handle all the functions and must have enough local business experience to help the business comply with other requirements.

They are responsible for:

A foreign corporation setting foot in Singapore can have any number of directors. However, at least one director should be one who is ‘ordinarily resident in Singapore’.

The requirements for a local company director are:

They are responsible for:

The next step for compliance is obtaining a registered office address. Foreign companies planning to set up operations in Singapore must have a registered office, which should be open and accessible to public in normal working hours.

This is required according to Singapore Companies Act and must mention its name and the place of incorporation on all its business correspondence ad also outside its place of business in Singapore

Each company should appoint an auditor within three months from the date of incorporation, unless it is exempted from audit specifications. In order to exempt audit requirements, a company should:

Goods & Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax applied to selling price of services and goods, provided by GST-registered business entities. GST registration is required if:

You would not be required to register for GST if:

Depending upon the nature of your operations, your company may or may not require a business license. If you are planning to enter the health sector, or tobacco industry, you might require securing a license from the respective Singaporean authority.

Each company should be able to maintain accounting records for up to 7 years after the completion of transactions. These accounting records should include balance sheets, and profit and loss accounts to represent sales and other business transactions adequately.

Every company must file annual tax returns with the Revenue Authority and annual returns with the Company registrar. You will need to come up to these compliance standards to make sure that you grow and develop as a business.