How Much Does It Cost to Incorporate in Singapore as a Foreigner? (2026)

Published: 10 September 2026 · Last reviewed: 14 October 2026 · Reviewed by Ray Tay, Co-Founder & Managing Director, VIVOS PTE. LTD. (ACRA Filing Agent FA20240323 · MOM EA Licence 24S2425)

Watch on YouTube: Singapore Company Registration Cost for Foreigners (2026 Breakdown) · 1 min 31 sec. Full transcript below.

Almost every quote a foreign founder receives online is either the government fee alone or a headline package price with the compulsory extras stripped out. This guide puts the whole 2026 bill in one table, separates what the law actually requires from what is merely typical market pricing, and dates every figure so you can check it yourself.

What are ACRA’s official fees to register a Singapore company in 2026?

ACRA is the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Singapore’s company registrar, and its entire statutory charge to bring a new private limited company into existence in 2026 is S$315. That breaks into S$15 for the name application and S$300 for the incorporation itself, both paid through ACRA’s BizFile portal. There are no hidden government add-ons at this stage, no capital duty and no stamp duty on the issue of new shares.

Once the company is live, ACRA charges a further S$60 a year to file the annual return (ACRA, checked 1 September 2026). That is a compliance fee rather than a setup fee, so it sits outside the incorporation table below, but budget for it from your second filing cycle onward.

Fees confirmed against acra.gov.sg on 1 September 2026.

How much share capital does a foreigner need to start a Singapore company?

Paid-up share capital is the money shareholders actually put into the company in exchange for their shares, and in Singapore the legal minimum is S$1 (ACRA, checked 1 September 2026). There is no minimum-investment threshold for a foreigner, no requirement to place a deposit with a Singapore bank before registration, and no local shareholder requirement — foreigners may hold 100% of the shares.

In practice, founders often issue somewhat more than S$1 because banks, landlords and immigration officers read capital as a proxy for substance. That is a commercial judgement, not a legal one, and it does not change the incorporation fee.

Why can’t a foreigner file the incorporation themselves?

A registered filing agent is an ACRA-licensed corporate service provider authorised to submit filings on your behalf, and a foreigner without a Singpass credential must use one because ACRA’s BizFile portal authenticates every self-filer through Singpass. Singpass is issued to Singapore citizens, permanent residents and certain pass holders, so an overseas founder has no route to file directly. The filing agent also runs the know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks that the law requires before your company can be registered.

A typical incorporation package from a registered filing agent runs S$800–1,500 as a one-off in 2026 (VIVOS pricing, 4 September 2026). That is a market range, not a regulated tariff, and what sits inside it varies widely — some quotes include the first year of corporate secretarial work and a registered address, others bill those separately, which is where advertised prices stop being comparable.

What does the first-year cost look like, line by line?

The full 2026 bill for a foreign founder is the sum of two fixed government fees, one one-off agent fee and three recurring service fees, of which only the nominee director is conditional. The table below shows each line with the figure quoted in the video, the frequency, and where the number comes from.

Facts verified against ACRA (acra.gov.sg) and the Companies Act 1967 (sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/CoA1967) on 1 September 2026. Government fees are statutory; service-fee ranges are market pricing quoted by VIVOS PTE. LTD. on 4 September 2026 and will differ between providers.

The spread between S$3,000 and S$6,500 is almost entirely the nominee director. A founder who already has a Singapore citizen, permanent resident or eligible pass holder willing to serve as director lands near the bottom of the range; a founder running the company entirely from overseas lands near the top.

What are the mandatory recurring costs after incorporation?

Three costs recur every year for a Singapore company with a foreign founder: the corporate secretary, the registered address and, where applicable, the nominee director. A corporate secretary is the officer legally responsible for keeping the company’s statutory registers and filings in order, and the Companies Act 1967 requires one to be appointed within six months of incorporation. The market fee in 2026 is S$900–1,500 a year (VIVOS pricing, 4 September 2026).

A registered address is the Singapore address published on the company’s ACRA profile where legal notices and government mail are served, and it cannot be an overseas address or a plain post-office box. Service providers supply one for S$600–800 a year in 2026 (VIVOS pricing, 4 September 2026), usually bundled with mail scanning and forwarding.

Add ACRA’s S$60 annual return fee (ACRA, checked 1 September 2026) and, once you are trading, bookkeeping and tax filing. Those last two vary too widely with transaction volume to quote as a single range, which is why they sit outside the table rather than being padded into it.

Do you need a nominee director, and what does one cost in 2026?

A nominee director is a locally resident director appointed purely to satisfy Singapore’s requirement that every company has at least one director ordinarily resident here, holding no shares and running nothing. You need one only if no member of your team qualifies as locally resident; if you have a Singapore citizen, permanent resident or eligible pass holder on the board, this line disappears from your budget entirely.

The 2026 market rate for a professional nominee director is S$3,500–5,000 a year (VIVOS pricing, 4 September 2026), and it is the single largest item in most foreign founders’ first-year cost. The requirement itself sits in the Companies Act 1967 (sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/CoA1967, checked 1 September 2026). We cover who qualifies, and the rule change on how nominees may be appointed, in the first video of this series: Do you need a local director for a Singapore company?.

Is an audit required for a new Singapore company?

Most newly incorporated small Singapore companies are exempt from statutory audit, so there is no five-figure audit bill waiting in year one. The exemption applies to companies meeting the “small company” criteria set out in the Companies Act 1967 (sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/CoA1967, checked 1 September 2026), and ACRA publishes the current qualifying tests at acra.gov.sg.

Exemption from audit is not exemption from accounting. You still have to keep proper books, prepare financial statements and file with ACRA and IRAS on time — the saving is the external auditor’s fee, not the underlying work.

Where does the money go after year one?

From year two onward a foreign-owned Singapore company typically pays only the recurring stack — corporate secretary, registered address, nominee director if still needed, and ACRA’s S$60 annual return — plus accounting and tax work, because the S$315 government fee and the S$800–1,500 filing-agent package are one-off. That is why the second year usually costs less than the first even though nothing about the company has changed.

Two adjacent costs commonly surprise founders and are covered separately in this series: getting a business bank account open as a non-resident (guide here) and the corporate tax a new company actually pays after the start-up exemptions (guide here).

Video transcript

Read the full transcript

How much does it really cost a foreigner to open a Singapore company in twenty twenty-six? Realistically, three to six and a half thousand Singapore dollars in year one. Here’s the honest breakdown — including the parts agents don’t advertise. I’m Ray Tay, co-founder of VIVOS.

The government’s share is tiny. Fifteen dollars to reserve your name, three hundred to incorporate — in total three hundred fifteen Singapore dollars to ACRA. And minimum share capital is just one dollar.

But as a foreigner you can’t file this yourself — registration must go through a registered filing agent, and a typical incorporation package runs eight hundred to one thousand five hundred dollars.

Now the recurring stack. A company secretary is mandatory within six months — nine hundred to one and half thousand a year. A registered local address — six to eight hundred. And if you’re staying overseas, a nominee director — three thousand five hundred to five thousand a year.

Add it up, and most foreign founders land between three and six and a half thousand in year one. The relief: most new small companies are exempt from audit — so there’s no five-figure audit bill waiting.

VIVOS quotes transparent all-in price — incorporation, secretary, address and nominee director together. Book your consultation now at vivos dot com dot sg.

This video is presented by an AI-generated avatar and voice of Ray Tay, co-founder of VIVOS. The content was written and fact-checked by VIVOS PTE. LTD.

How fast can the company be incorporated?

A Singapore private limited company is usually incorporated in 1 to 3 business days once KYC is complete, the name is approved and documents are signed. Name approval on BizFile+ is near-instant unless the name needs regulatory referral, in which case allow up to 60 days; an approved name is reserved for 120 days. The full sequence, from scoping call to UEN, is set out in our Singapore company incorporation guide.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost a foreigner to incorporate a company in Singapore in 2026?

A foreigner should budget roughly S$3,000–6,500 for the first year of a Singapore private limited company in 2026. Only S$315 of that is government fee — S$15 for the name application and S$300 for registration, both paid to ACRA — with the balance covering the compulsory registered filing agent, corporate secretary, registered address and, where no locally resident director exists, a nominee director. Founders who already have a Singapore-resident director land near the bottom of that range.

What are ACRA’s official fees to register a Singapore company in 2026?

ACRA charges S$15 for the company name application and S$300 for incorporation, a total of S$315, checked against acra.gov.sg on 1 September 2026. There is no capital duty and no additional government charge at registration. From the company’s first full filing cycle, ACRA also charges S$60 a year for the annual return.

Can a foreigner register a Singapore company without a filing agent?

No — a foreigner with no Singpass credential cannot self-file with ACRA and must engage an ACRA-registered filing agent. The agent submits the incorporation through BizFile and performs the required know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks. A typical incorporation package costs S$800–1,500 as a one-off in 2026, quoted by VIVOS on 4 September 2026.

What are the yearly running costs of a Singapore company in 2026?

The recurring 2026 stack is a corporate secretary at S$900–1,500 a year, a registered Singapore address at S$600–800 a year, and ACRA’s S$60 annual return filing fee. If you have no locally resident director, add a nominee director at S$3,500–5,000 a year. Accounting and tax filing are charged on top and vary with transaction volume.

Do I need a nominee director, and what does one cost in 2026?

You need a nominee director only if nobody on your team is ordinarily resident in Singapore, because the Companies Act 1967 requires every company to have at least one locally resident director. A professional nominee director costs S$3,500–5,000 a year in 2026, quoted by VIVOS on 4 September 2026, and is the largest single item in most foreign founders’ budgets. The nominee holds no shares and has no operational control — the company remains 100% yours.

How much share capital do I need to start a Singapore company?

The minimum paid-up share capital for a Singapore company is S$1, confirmed against ACRA on 1 September 2026. There is no minimum investment amount for foreigners and no requirement to deposit funds in Singapore before incorporating. Many founders issue more than S$1 for commercial credibility with banks and landlords, but that is a choice rather than a legal threshold.

Is an audit required for a new Singapore company?

Most newly incorporated small Singapore companies are exempt from statutory audit under the “small company” criteria in the Companies Act 1967, checked on 1 September 2026, so no external audit fee falls due in year one. The exemption removes the auditor, not the accounts: you must still keep proper books, prepare financial statements and file on time with ACRA and IRAS. Companies that outgrow the small-company tests move into the audit regime in later years.

Want an exact quote for your situation?

VIVOS PTE. LTD. quotes one transparent all-in price covering incorporation, corporate secretary, registered address and nominee director together, so you can see your real year-one number before you commit. Book a free consultation at vivos.com.sg/contact-us or message us on WhatsApp at +65 8827 7870, and we will tell you which lines in the table above actually apply to you. This is the second video in our Foreign Founder series — start with the local-director rules, then continue to business banking and corporate tax.

VIVOS PTE. LTD. — ACRA Registered Filing Agent FA20240323 · MOM EA Licence 24S2425.

Related guides

• How to Register a Company in Singapore as a Foreigner — and Get Your Employment Pass or ONE Pass (2026)
• Can a Foreigner Own 100% of a Singapore Company?
• Same Day Compliance: Singapore Resident Director for Foreign Founders
• Singapore vs Malaysia: Where Should You Incorporate in 2026?