ACRA and IRAS are the governing bodies that set compliance requirements for companies incorporated in Singapore. ACRA requires companies to hold annual general meetings, file annual returns online, and comply with additional rules depending on the company type. IRAS requires companies to declare profits within 3 months of the fiscal year, submit tax forms annually and by November, file GST returns monthly/quarterly/half-yearly depending on the company, and withhold taxes on certain overseas payments. Non-compliance can result in fines, court summons, imprisonment, or caning for serious offenses.
2. ACRA - Accounting and Corporate Regulatory of Singapore
ACRA is the governing body for all companies that are incorporated in Singapore. ACRA
has compliance rules for each type of Company (public limited or private limited) based on
the Singapore Companies Act, Cap 50.
3. ACRAs Compliance requirements
ACRA has laid down the following requirements for
companies in Singapore
Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be conducted for all
companies once every calendar year. The gap
between 2 AGMs cannot be more than 15 months
Online filing of returns have to be done once every
year. For companies that are in a negative equity
position (insolvent companies) or audit has been
mandated, XBRL filing of accounts have to be
completed online.
For public companies the requires for conducting AGM,
directors or members meetings need to be as laid
down specifically under the Companies Act, CAP 50
4. IRAS Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
IRAS is the tax authority of Singapore. All corporate and individual taxes are paid to IRAS.
Most services from IRAS are available via the online portals My Tax Portal or EASY. Tax
agents or authorized company officials can perform transactions through these online
portals.
5. IRASs Compliance requirements
The following are the main requirements laid down by IRAS
for companies in Singapore
Every company should declare its share of profits
(chargeable income) within 3 months of closure of
financial year. The tax liability of the company s based on
the profits declared at this time.
For every financial year, a final tax form Form C/Form
CS has to be submitted by the ensuing November
For companies that are GST compliant, GST returns have
to be submitted on a monthly, quarterly or half yearly basis
For certain companies like investment holding companies,
the tax computation is slightly different from normal
companies like trading.
Withholding tax is applicable for certain kind of payments
made by Singapore registered companies to overseas
suppliers and service providers
7. Non Compliance and procedures
Non-compliance in Singapore is a serious issue. The offenders often find
themselves at the receiving end of hefty fines or court summons to start with.
For more serious corporate crimes imprisonment and capital punishment in the
form of caning is common
8. Need compliance support? Write to us today
team@servolve.com
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Red Dot Building,
Singapore - 069120
9. .Disclaimer
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