Singapore Company Cost: The Real First-Year Number (2026)

The government cost of registering a Singapore company is S$315, once. The real first year for a foreign founder is S$3,300–S$7,300 all-in, because three services are mandatory – and the industry prefers to advertise the first number.

The honest ledger, in one view

Item	What it costs
Government: incorporate	S$315, once (S$15 name + S$300 filing)
Government: annual return	About S$60 a year
Nominee resident director	S$1,500–S$5,000 a year, plus a refundable deposit
Company secretary	S$300–S$800 a year
Registered address	S$250–S$500 a year
Accounting and filings	Roughly S$600–S$2,400 a year by volume
Realistic first year, all-in	S$3,300–S$7,300 at published market rates

No general trade license exists – outside licensed sectors, nothing else renews with the state. The part nobody prints: year two often costs more than the introductory package price you compared in year one. Promotional rates revert to much higher list prices, and the refundable deposit most nominee providers hold is cash parked from day one.

What Singapore itself charges

The state's bill is genuinely small, and it is worth seeing how small. Reserving a company name with ACRA costs S$15, and the name is held for 120 days. Incorporation costs S$300. From then on, the recurring government charge is the annual return, at about S$60.

That is the entire public price list for a standard private limited company. There is no general trade license, no annual license renewal and no minimum capital beyond S$1 – the full registration process is in our Singapore company registration guide. Every other cost in this article is a market price paid to private providers, and market prices move. The ranges below are from published price lists, checked in August 2026.

The three services a foreign owner cannot skip

1 · Nominee resident director. Singapore law requires one ordinarily-resident director, and overseas founders without a local partner rent one. Reputable firms publish prices between S$1,500 and S$5,000 a year, with occasional outliers above S$5,000. The going rate at established providers sits around S$2,400–S$3,500.

The number that surprises people is the refundable security deposit. Most providers hold one, typically S$1,000–S$5,000; a few charge none, and some low-cost firms ask up to S$10,000. Providers refund it when you exit cleanly – liabilities settled, your own resident director appointed – but it is real cash parked from day one. Budget it even though it is not a fee.

2 · Company secretary. Mandatory within six months of incorporation, and the secretary cannot be your sole director. Commonly S$300–S$800 a year as a service.

3 · Registered address. A real Singapore address, not a PO box. Commonly S$250–S$500 a year.

Advertised prices vs what you actually pay

Incorporation packages are marketed the way gym memberships are: the headline is the cheapest possible configuration, and the profit is in what gets added later. Four patterns to check before signing anything:

• The renewal cliff. Introductory rates at several providers revert to much higher list prices from year two – at some, the gap is severalfold. Ask for the year-two renewal price in writing before you compare year-one offers.
• The deposit that is not in the headline. A "S$2,000 nominee" can mean S$2,000 plus a S$2,000 deposit on top. Ask what is refundable, and when.
• Government fees "included" – or not. Some packages absorb the S$315; others add it at checkout. It is the same S$315 either way; just compare like with like.
• Compliance sold separately. The cheap package covers incorporation. The annual return filing, the AGM paperwork and the tax filings often arrive later as line items. Ask for the full-year price, not the setup price.

None of this makes the providers dishonest – the published prices are real. It makes the comparison dishonest if you only read headlines.

Accounting, tax filing and the meter that starts later

A Singapore company must keep proper accounts and file an annual return. It must also estimate chargeable income within three months of financial year end, and file its corporate tax return by 30 November. For a low-volume company, bookkeeping plus these filings runs roughly S$600–S$2,400 a year at published provider rates, rising with transaction volume.

Two costs most founders can legitimately avoid early on. Audit: the two-out-of-three small-company test (revenue and assets each under S$10 million, headcount 50 or fewer) exempts most new companies. GST administration: below S$1 million of turnover, registration is voluntary, and registering voluntarily locks you in for at least two years of GST filings. Do not buy that workload before the law requires it.

Three founders, three first-year numbers

The remote owner. Runs the company from abroad with a nominee director. Government S$315, nominee with deposit, secretary, address, light accounting: realistically S$3,300–S$7,300 all-in, plus the refundable deposit parked. A worked middle case: S$315 + S$2,800 nominee + S$500 secretary + S$350 address + S$900 accounting ≈ S$4,900.

The relocating founder. Once you hold an EntrePass, or an Employment Pass plus a Letter of Consent from MOM, you can be the resident director yourself – the nominee line disappears. Services drop to roughly S$1,000–S$2,200 (secretary, address, accounting) plus government fees and MOM pass costs. The pass route has its own requirements – salary thresholds and the COMPASS test – covered in the registration guide.

The founder with a Singapore partner. A trusted local co-founder or family member as resident director removes both the nominee fee and the deposit. First year lands near the government-plus-services floor: roughly S$1,000–S$2,000. The director carries real legal duties – this is a governance decision, not a discount trick.

Against a UAE setup, briefly

A Dubai mainland setup commonly runs AED 40,000–80,000 or more in year one, and the license renews annually; free zone packages start lower but also recur. Singapore's recurring cost is the service stack – typically S$3,000–S$6,000 a year once introductory pricing washes out – plus about S$60 to the state.

Run over several years, the gap compounds – but so does what each buys: the UAE spend includes residence visas for you and your family, and Singapore's does not. That trade – and the tax picture on both sides – is the subject of our Dubai vs Singapore comparison.

Keeping it lean without buying trouble

• Choose the provider on year-two pricing. Year one is a marketing number. Year two is the relationship.
• Do not chase the cheapest nominee. Since June 2025 nominee arrangements must run through ACRA-registered providers, with real identity checks. A suspiciously cheap nominee is a red flag on the one role that carries legal liability inside your company.
• Skip voluntary GST until the numbers demand it. The two-year lock-in outlasts most pricing regrets.
• Plan the nominee exit. If relocation is on your roadmap, the nominee is a bridge, not a permanent cost. Getting your deposit back is part of the plan.
• Keep the financial year end deliberate. It sets every filing deadline and the start-up tax exemption's three-year clock.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it really cost to register a company in Singapore?

Plan for S$3,300 to S$7,300 all-in in the first year at published market rates; packaged offers cluster toward the lower end. The government's own share is only S$315. The rest is the mandatory stack - nominee resident director, company secretary, registered address and accounting - plus a refundable nominee deposit parked from day one.

How much does a nominee director cost in Singapore?

Reputable firms publish prices between S$1,500 and S$5,000 a year, with occasional outliers above S$5,000; the going rate sits around S$2,400 to S$3,500. Most providers also hold a refundable security deposit, typically S$1,000 to S$5,000. A few charge none, and some low-cost firms ask up to S$10,000.

What is the cheapest way to set up in Singapore?

Having a trusted Singapore-resident co-founder or partner act as the resident director removes the nominee fee and deposit entirely, bringing the first year down to roughly S$1,000 to S$2,000. Failing that, compare providers on their year-two renewal price rather than the introductory offer.

Are there hidden costs in Singapore company registration?

The common ones: the nominee security deposit; renewal prices that jump sharply once the introductory year ends; government fees added at checkout; and compliance work sold separately from the setup package. All are visible if you ask for the full-year, year-two price in writing before comparing.

What does a Singapore company cost per year after the first?

About S$60 to the government for the annual return, plus the service stack: nominee director if you still need one, secretary, registered address and accounting. For a remote-owned company that typically means S$3,000 to S$6,000 a year at standard rates, less if you have become the resident director yourself.

Do I need to deposit the share capital in cash?

Share capital can be as little as S$1, and there is no requirement to lock large sums in a bank to incorporate. The cash you do need to park is the nominee director's refundable security deposit, where your provider requires one.

Sources and references

• ACRA – Business structures and government fees (S$15 + S$300; verified August 2026)
• ACRA – Company-related fees (annual return S$60)
• ACRA – Small-company audit exemption
• IRAS – GST registration rules
• Service-cost ranges: published price lists of Singapore corporate service providers (market data, not government fees), checked August 2026. Prices change – verify with providers directly.

How we work on Singapore costs

We advise on the cross-border decision and structure; incorporation itself runs through an ACRA-registered filing agent, as Singapore law requires for overseas founders. Service ranges are market rates from published provider price lists and vary. Nothing here is tax or legal advice; take formal advice on your own circumstances before committing capital. Tell us what you are planning and we will map the honest number for your specific case – including when the UAE, or neither, is the better answer.