Singapore Subsidiary Office
A Singapore subsidiary office of a foreign company is a locally-incorporated company, with its shareholders being the foreign company itself. However, it is a distinct, separate legal entity from its parent company.
A Singapore subsidiary office is quite easy to set up. May foreign companies prefer to set up their subsidiaries in Singapore since the corporate tax rates notably low in comparison with other highly-industrialised countries. Furthermore, Singapore has double taxation agreements with many countries and has no exchange controls on the introduction of capital – all of which pose great advantages. The biggest advantage of all is that if the parent company holds at up to 90% of the subsidiary's share capital, the other 10% being held by an individual, the Singapore subsidiary Office still enjoys tax benefits accorded to new start ups for the first three years.
As per the requirements of the Singapore Companies Act, the Subsidiary’s name must be approved before it can be registered. In addition, any foreign staff that intends to work for the Singapore Subsidiary office must obtain an employment pass (EP) before he/she can commence work.
A subsidiary company is required to keep in proper order its accounting and other relevant transaction records. If the records are kept in the parent company’s domain, copies of these records must be retained in Singapore.
Here are the major characteristics of a Singapore Subsidiary Office:
- The foreign, parent company can own 100% shares of its Subsidiary.
- A Subsidiary must appoint a qualified company secretary.
- At least one of the directors of the Subsidiary must be a local resident.
- A Subsidiary needs to file annual audited accounts with IRAS.
As a final note, the requirements and steps of setting up a Singapore Subsidiary Office are similar to that as registering a private limited company in Singapore – except that in this case, the shareholder is a foreign company.
Please do contact us should you wish to seek the assistance of reliable professionals in incorporating your Singapore Subsidiary Company.
By E-Sandhurst