Singapore’s immigration policies make it very easy for businesses to draw on resources from outside of the city to accomplish their move to the region. Besides the standard Work Visa that is easily available, Singapore’s liberal immigration policies make procuring a Permanent Visa quite easy as well.

Singapore offers low corporate and personal tax rates, ensuring that your business will thrive there. Businesses which make profits below the SGD 300,000 mark are taxed at 9%, while all businesses that make above SGD 300,000 are taxed at a maximum of 18%. As added benefits, the Singapore tax system does not include any corporate gains tax and functions on a single tier system. This means that once businesses are taxed, they are free to dispose of the dividends to their shareholders, tax free. Singapore is also home to one of the lowest Goods and Services taxes in the world. GST in Singapore is capped at 7% as opposed to the 16.4% average GST being charged all over the world.

Singapore has one of the most transparent and efficient legal systems in the world. This ensures that all disputes are settled and all legalities taken care of as fast and as well as possible, with minimum expenditure. Regulations as to minimum wages and working hours are well defined to cause minimal confusion. Ensure that you comply with all of these policies when you move your business to Singapore.

Hiring local employees would require your business to register with the Central Provident Fund (CPF) and contribute to it. If you plan on bringing in foreign employees, you will need to obtain a Work Pass from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower.

Based on what type of business you start in Singapore, relevant licences and permits will need to be obtained.

When moving to Singapore it is also necessary to respect the region’s business culture and traditions, in your interactions with the people there. There are traditional ways of greeting Singaporean entrepreneurs of Chinese, Malay and Indian origin, but the handshake is acceptable as a form of greeting with all businessmen. Also keep in mind that the Singaporeans are extremely cautious businesspeople and never make hasty business decisions and believe in building long lasting relationships with their partners in business. Losing your temper or replying in the negative rather than promising to consider suggestions that are on the table are some of the ways to ruin business ties in Singapore. Maintaining a calm demeanour and keeping your tone gentle on the other hand, will help your business succeed.

In the latest Doing Business Project 2009 undertaken by the World Bank Group, Singapore came out tops in several categories.The categories that Singapore was ranked first included:

• The ease of doing business
A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means that the regulatory environment is conducive to the operation of a business. Also, the Singapore economy is based on free enterprise, with no restrictions on foreign ownership of business.

• Employing workers
Employing workers measures the flexibility of labour laws among various countries over the world. It examines the difficulty of hiring a new worker, rigidity in terms of working hours and problems faced while dismissing a worker.

• Trading across borders
This ease of trading across borders criteria includes documentation, time and cost to export and import. Singapore is also ranked first for having the most open economy for international trade and investment by the World Economic Forum.

• Taxation

Singapore is business friendly and an ideal country for company formation because of the ease with which taxes can be filed and paid, and also its low corporate tax rates relative to many developed economies in the world. From Year of Assessment 2010 onwards, the corporate tax rate of Singapore is to be 17%, just 0.5% higher than that of Hong Kong – Singapore’s closest competitor in the Asia region.

However, the effective tax rate is significantly lower than most of the countries, if not all the countries, in the region. With a further reduction in the 1% from 18% to 17% in corporate tax rate, it will enhance Singapore’s appeal to attract investment dollars.

In addition, the Singapore Government has been actively trying to encourage the growth of a knowledge-based economy and have in place a myriad of tax incentives – thereby lowering the effective tax rates of companies. Some of the tax incentives schemes handed out by the Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB) include:

• Pioneer Industries
The EDB may grant pioneer incentive to an approved industry which is not being carried on in Singapore on a scale adequate to the economic needs of Singapore, and for which there are favourable prospects for development. The tax relief period of a pioneer enterprise shall commence on its production day and shall continue for such period, not exceeding 15 years.

• Pioneer Service Companies
Similar to the Pioneer Industries scheme, it is granted to services which fall under the list of ‘qualifying activities’. These include any engineering or technical services such as laboratory, consultancy and research and development activities, computer-based information and other computer related services, the development or production of any industrial design and such other services or activities as may be prescribed.

• Development & Expansion Incentive
A tax relief period of up to 10 years as the Minister may determine not exceeding 5 years for each period may be granted upon approval to the manufacturing or increased manufacturing of any product from any industry that would be of economic benefit to Singapore.

• Enhanced Tax Deduction for Research & Development (R&D) expenses
Where a taxpayer directly carries out qualifying R&D activities in Singapore, he can claim a further deduction of 50% of the amount of qualifying R&D expenses incurred. This is in addition to the 100% deduction he can claim for such expenditure.

In essence, with efficient planning and structuring, Singapore is a great jurisdiction for company incorporation, as it results in a higher net profit after tax. The efficient economy, good infrastructure, skilled workforce and sound economic policies in place has certainly boosted Singapore’s reputation an ideal jurisdiction to do business in.