Lanzamo
中文

Asia · Pte Ltd

Cost to register a company in Singapore

Singapore has a famously low government fee and a famously high real cost, and the gap is the whole story for a non-resident. The mandatory ACRA charges are only S$315 (S$15 to approve the name plus S$300 to incorporate), and the minimum paid-up capital is a token S$1 — so on paper it looks cheap. But a foreigner cannot file alone and cannot supply the three things the law requires — a resident director, a company secretary and a local registered office — so the real first-year cost is dominated by the corporate service provider bundle and, above all, the nominee resident director and its security deposit. That nominee cost is the single biggest structural difference versus a UK Ltd or a U.S. LLC, neither of which needs a resident director at all.

Singapore overview How we research
Country
Singapore
Topic
Cost breakdown
Reviewed
June 2026

By the Lanzamo Editorial Team · Reviewed June 2026 · How we research

Item One-time Recurring Notes
Government incorporation fee $245 — S$315 to ACRA (S$15 name approval + S$300 incorporation). The only mandatory government fee; paid through your filing agent.
Notary / apostille — — Not required for incorporation — there is no notarial deed. Some banks may ask for notarised/apostilled documents abroad, but ACRA does not.
Corporate service provider package $400–$1,600 — S$500–S$2,000 typical to handle the filing, constitution and KYC for a non-resident; often bundles the secretary and registered office.
Nominee / resident director — $1,400–$3,800 Mandatory if you have no ordinarily-resident director: ~S$1,800–5,000/yr, usually plus a refundable security deposit. The defining non-resident cost.
Company secretary (annual) — $230–$700 S$300–900/yr; a qualified secretary must be appointed within six months and the role cannot stay vacant beyond six months.
Registered office address (annual) — $230–$460 ~S$300/yr for a local Singapore address; mandatory and must be a real address (not a P.O. box) open during business hours.
ACRA annual return fee — $47 S$60/yr filing fee for the annual return, payable to ACRA on top of the secretary's preparation fee.
Accounting / bookkeeping + tax filing — $600–$2,000 Most non-residents outsource bookkeeping, ECI and the Form C-S/C return; small companies are often audit-exempt, which keeps this down.
GST registration & returns — $0–$600 Registration is free and only required above S$1M turnover; ongoing cost is the service fee for quarterly GST returns if you register.

Realistic all-in first year

$2,000 – $7,000

After year one the S$315 government fee and most of the CSP setup charge fall away, but the recurring stack does not: the nominee resident director (~$1,400–3,800/yr), the company secretary (~$230–700/yr), the registered office (~$230–460/yr), the S$60 ACRA return and accounting (~$600–2,000/yr) all repeat annually. Budget roughly $2,000–$6,000 a year ongoing — call it $6,000–$18,000 over three years all-in for a non-resident. The nominee director is what keeps Singapore materially more expensive to maintain than a UK Ltd or a U.S. LLC, which require no resident director at all.

Frequently asked questions

What's the absolute minimum it costs to start a Singapore company?

The mandatory government fee is just S$315 (~$245) and the minimum capital is S$1. But a non-resident can't stop there: you must pay a corporate service provider to file, plus a company secretary and a local registered office — and, unless you already have an ordinarily-resident director, a nominee director. Realistically a foreign founder's true first-year cost runs into several thousand dollars, not S$315.

Why is the real cost so much higher than the S$315 fee?

Because Singapore requires local substance that a non-resident doesn't have. The law mandates a resident director, a company secretary and a registered office, and a foreigner can't even log in to BizFile+ without a filing agent. Those services — especially the nominee resident director and its deposit — are where the money goes, dwarfing the government fee.

How much does the nominee resident director cost?

Typically about S$1,800–5,000 per year, and providers usually also require a refundable security deposit (sometimes several thousand dollars) because the nominee carries legal responsibility as a director. It is the single largest recurring cost for a non-resident-owned Singapore company and the main reason Singapore is pricier to maintain than the UK or a U.S. LLC.

Do I have to deposit share capital before incorporating?

No. Minimum paid-up capital is S$1, and it is a nominal figure rather than cash you must wire to a Singapore bank account before the company exists. Shares can also be denominated in major foreign currencies. The capital requirement is therefore a non-issue — the real money is in the service stack, not the share capital.

Sources

More on Singapore

Singapore — full overview How to register Taxes Open a bank account vs a U.S. LLC

Comparing Singapore with other countries?

See Singapore next to 12 other startup-friendly jurisdictions — fee, tax, capital and the resident-director catch — in one table.

Compare all jurisdictions Browse all countries