Ongoing Compliance Requirements for Singapore Registered Companies
Singapore Companies Act Companies Act requires all Singapore incorporated companies to do the followings ongoing statutory compliance.
Singapore Company Statutory Compliance – Post Incorporation Consideration
Financial Year End
Every company must fix a Financial Year End.
Appointment of Auditors
All Singapore incorporated companies must appoint an auditor within 3 months from the date of incorporation, unless it is exempted from audit requirements. To be exempted from audit requirements, a company must satisfy all of the following:
- The Company does not have any corporate shareholder;
- Total number of individual shareholders must be less than 20;
- and Annual turnover of the company must be less than S$5 million.
GST Registration
Registering for GST is compulsory when:
- The turnover of your business is more than $1 million for the past 12 months; or
- You are currently making sales and you can reasonably expect the turnover of your business to be more than $1 million for the next 12 months.
- Alternatively, you can choose to be voluntarily registered for GST.
Custom Registration
Every Company having the business activities pertaining to Export and Import need to apply for Customs Registration before commencing the export/import.
Business Licenses
The Company should apply for and obtain the necessary approvals if the business activities are subjected to licenses requirements.
Accounting Records
All Singapore Companies must maintain accounting records and have to prepare profit and loss account and a balance sheet every Financial Year End. The accounting records must be kept for 5 years.
Notification of Changes
Every time a change occurs in the company or there are changes in the particulars of its officers, eg. in the passport number, nationality, residential address of the director/shareholder/s, change of financial year end, and change of registered office address, etc., this must be informed to ACRA. Failure to do so will incur penalties.
Company Registration Number Disclosure
The Singapore Companies Act requires every company to have its registration number (in addition to its registered name) on all business letters, statements of account, invoices, official notices and publications.
ECI Filing
Every company has to furnish an estimate of its chargeable income known as Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) within three months from the end of its Financial Year End.
Preparation of Financial Accounts
All companies are required to prepare accounts as per the Singapore Financial Reporting Standards (SFRS).
XBRL
Singapore incorporated companies which are either limited by shares or unlimited must file their financial statements in XBRL (reporting language) format except for those companies which meet the exemption criterion.
Audit of Financial Accounts
Companies whose turnover for the financial year exceeds the S$5 million and / or active companies having corporate shareholders shall be required to audit its accounts.
Companies which are not exempted will be required to appoint an auditor within 3 months of the date of incorporation and have the Company’s accounts audited on an annual basis.
Annual General Meeting
Every company must hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) once every calendar year. Accounts presented at the AGM shall be made upto a date not more than 6 months before the AGM.
The first AGM must be held within 18 months of its incorporation; No more than 15 months may elapse between subsequent AGMs.
Annual Return Filing
Every company must lodge an Annual Return (AR) with the Registrar of Companies, Singapore (ACRA) within 1 month of its AGM.
Dormant companies are not required to attach accounts with their annual return; Exempt private companies (EPC) (i.e. no corporate shareholders and total shareholders < 20) with turnover of less than S$5 million for the accounting year can file unaudited accounts; Small EPCs which are solvent need not attach its accounts.
Corporate Tax Filing (Form C)
The statutory deadline for filing corporate income tax return is 30 November of Year of Assessment.i.e. if the accounting period of your company is April 1, 2008 – March 31, 2009, the income tax return filing deadline for the company will be 30 November, 2010.