Setting Up Private Limited Company In Singapore

 At Worldwide Fellow, we provide a value-added service of assisting our Clients to open bank accounts with reputable banks or financial institutions in well over 20 jurisdictions.

 An offshore company setup should be tailored accordingly to each business’s individual needs and long-term goals. The most important factor to consider is the type of intended business activity of this offshore corporation. Tetra Consultants has compiled the most popular lines of businesses for offshore business setup.

 Trading companies dealing with import and export can register an offshore company in a different jurisdiction for additional profits. For example, you can issue invoices to customers and make payments to suppliers via the offshore corporation. In exchange, the supplier will ship the goods directly to the customers.

 As such, you will be able to reduce your corporate tax obligations while minimizing your involvement throughout the work process. If your business is importing and exporting on a global scale, Tetra Consultants will recommend you to consider setting up offshore companies in legally tax-exempt countries.

 Investment

 Investors may wish to register an offshore company if you are looking to invest in multiple countries.

 In some countries, there are strict foreign exchange controls imposed by the Central Bank and local government authorities. There are multiple time-consuming procedures and paperwork to be completed before investors can transfer a limited amount of money out of the country.

 For many investors, the ability to move funds freely is the key to making a profitable investment. By setting up a company offshore and opening an offshore bank account, these investors whose funds were initially trapped and limited, are now able to freely move funds in and out of different investments in different countries.

 As we know, investors earn through capital gains and this profit will be subject to capital gains tax. In some jurisdictions, offshore companies are subject to no capital gain tax and this allows investors to enjoy higher profits.

 Holding company

 For many businesses, an offshore holding company should be a familiar term, especially to the management team. A holding company is used to control subsidiaries which are usually located in multiple countries.

 By setting up the holding company in an offshore jurisdiction, businesses are able to enjoy tax benefits when moving money from one subsidiary to the holding company.

 By choosing the best offshore company structure, the holding company can build up the funds and re-invest into other subsidiaries without suffering any withholding taxes, corporate taxes or capital gains taxes.

 Personal holding company

 High net-worth individuals may choose to set up a personal offshore holding company to hold their assets in different countries.

 You will only be required to engage a legal team and accounting team for this personal holding company instead of engaging one in every individual country. Consequently, you will be able to enjoy lower administrative fees.

  In addition, most offshore jurisdictions do not publish information of the shareholders and Ultimate Beneficial Owners. This in turn allows the high net-worth individuals to keep a low profile from the public regarding their net worth.

 Property ownership company

 Many investors register offshore companies to hold their properties. By doing so, you will be able to reduce inheritance tax and capital gains. This is because the property is owned by the company and in the event you decide to sell the property, you can do so by transferring the company shares.

 Our team of experts will recommend the most suitable jurisdiction depending on your long-term business goals and activities. The most common option for a trading company or holding company will be to incorporate a Hong Kong offshore company. There are minimal requirements for Hong Kong business set up and this can be completed in less than one week. Alternatively, you may wish to consider Singapore or UK.

 Depending on your company structure, Tetra Consultants will recommend the most efficient business entity. For example in Singapore, you will register a non-resident limited liability company. On the other hand in Seychelles, you will register an International Business Company (IBC).

 After the company is successfully registered, the next step will be to open your corporate bank account. Tetra Consultants will recommend the top banks that are willing to board your business. Some factors that the banks will take into consideration include the location of your customers and suppliers, the nationalities of directors and shareholders as well as the type of business activity. Some banks do not board holding companies while others do not board offshore companies generally. Tetra Consultants is experienced in corporate bank account opening and will complete the same within 5 weeks.

 The most important aspect of offshore business formation is to remain compliant and legally conduct business. Tetra Consultants will remind you of annual reporting requirements and assist in timely completing the same.

 The first advantage of offshore company is definitely tax optimization. In some countries, personal income or corporate income tax rates can be extremely high. As such, businessmen are looking for practical solutions to optimize their tax obligations instead of paying taxes amounting to half the company profits.

 Despite the media hyping offshore companies as a multi-layer structure to illegally avoid tax and conduct money laundering, this is actually not true at all. An offshore company is actually a simple and practical solution for businesses to legally reduce their tax payable domestically and internationally. This will free up more funds for the company to reinvest and achieve higher profits.

 Tetra Consultants will assist you to properly structure your offshore business according to your business needs and long-term goals while staying compliant with international tax regulations.

 International business expansion

 The company formation process in some countries is complex and time-consuming. By choosing to setup offshore company and opening an offshore bank account, you will be able to conduct business all across the globe. This is especially relatable to online businesses where there is no need to keep inventories or supplies in a warehouse.

 In addition, registering an offshore company is quick and does not require you to meet many requirements.

 For example, it is challenging to transfer funds out of Cambodia. A Cambodian businessman may choose to register an offshore company in Singapore and open a corporate bank account in Hong Kong to pay Asian suppliers and another corporate bank account in Germany to receive funds from European customers. This allows his business to grow and not be restricted by complex domestic restrictions.

 In the unfortunate event that you are going through a lawsuit or divorce, an offshore holding company will protect your wealth. Assets held by the offshore company will be deemed by the law separately. In most lawsuits or divorces, you will be held liable as an individual by the law. By transferring these assets to the offshore holding company, they will be protected and out of reach. In addition, most offshore jurisdictions allow company owners to remain anonymous and not searchable in the public register.

 For individuals that are residents in politically unstable countries, you may wish to consider setting up an offshore holding company to protect your assets as well. Economic markets are volatile and fluctuate rapidly. By having a company in another jurisdiction subject to different market forces and regulations, you are diversifying your risk against rapid inflation, economic breakdown, or political instability.

 Lower business costs

 Doing business in most offshore jurisdictions will usually result in lower costs of business operations. The company registration package service will usually consist of company registration, company secretary, registered address and corporate bank account opening. In some situations, you may require nominee director or nominee shareholder services as well as mail forwarding services. These services are usually affordable and can be provided by a single consulting firm such as Tetra Consultants.

 On the other hand, highly regulated countries such as Indonesia and Thailand require the appointment of local directors and shareholders as well as foreign investment licenses which may take months to be approved. As such, setting up an offshore company for your overseas company formation is definitely cost-saving.

 Access to offshore banking

 By leveraging on this advantage of offshore companies, businesses are now able to open offshore corporate bank accounts. This allows you to swiftly receive and send foreign currencies while minimizing transaction fees. With access to offshore banking, your business will enjoy less delays in payment transactions and lower transaction costs.

 For online businesses, you can consider opening a merchant account for your offshore company to receive credit card payments from global clients. In some countries, domestic banks may not be able to provide this service.

 In addition, you will be able to open global brokerage accounts to trade securities on global stock exchanges. This service may not be available in some of the domestic banks.

 It is increasingly challenging to open corporate bank accounts for traditional tax haves. Businesses are usually subject to enhanced due diligence checks by the banks’ compliance team, resulting in delays during the account opening process. In addition, customers and suppliers are less willing to work with Belize International Business Companies (IBC) as compared to an offshore company in Singapore.

 New economic substance requirements for offshore companies

 Global tax authorities are clamping down on traditional tax havens in order to stop tax abuse. As such, many offshore jurisdictions are required to implement additional economic substance.

 For example from 1st January 2020, all British Virgin Islands (BVI) companies dealing with “relevant activities” are required to appoint local active directors, rent local physical offices and submit annual reports to the government. This applies to holding companies, trading companies, fund management companies, shipping companies and banking/insurance companies.

 That said, Tetra Consultants recommends you to set up offshore companies in more reputable jurisdictions such as Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, Ireland, Liechtenstein or UAE.