Published: 17 September 2026 · Reviewed by Ray Tay, Co-Founder & Managing Director, VIVOS PTE. LTD. (ACRA Filing Agent FA20240323 · MOM EA Licence 24S2425)
Quick answer: Singapore has no estate duty, no inheritance tax and no capital gains tax, which makes it a common jurisdiction for HNW families to hold a trust rather than simply a place to hold a bank account. Three structures dominate: a discretionary family trust with a Private Trust Company (PTC) as trustee, a standalone discretionary trust administered by a licensed trust company, and a reserved-powers trust under Section 90A of the Trustees Act 1967, which lets the settlor retain investment control without invalidating the trust. A Qualifying Foreign Trust can additionally exempt specified foreign-sourced income from Singapore tax where neither the settlor nor any beneficiary is a Singapore citizen or resident. None of this is a substitute for a family office — a trust holds and governs assets; a 13O/13U single family office is the operating and staffing structure that manages them.
Singapore abolished estate duty in February 2008, and does not impose a general capital gains tax or inheritance tax on individuals. Combined with political stability, a deep bench of licensed trust companies and private banks, and an extensive tax-treaty network, that tax backdrop is a large part of why Singapore has become a hub for cross-border succession planning — the same pull that draws families to the single family office structures discussed elsewhere on this site. A trust in Singapore is not primarily a tax-avoidance device in the way older offshore structures were marketed; it is a governance tool that separates legal ownership (the trustee) from beneficial enjoyment (the beneficiaries), letting a family control how, when and to whom wealth is distributed across generations, independent of what happens to any individual family member.
| Structure | Trustee | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|
| Discretionary family trust with a PTC | A Singapore company incorporated solely to act as trustee for this family’s trusts | Families wanting direct board-level control over trust decisions, usually alongside significant assets |
| Standalone discretionary trust | A MAS-licensed trust company | Families wanting professional, arm’s-length administration without setting up their own trustee company |
| Reserved-powers trust (Trustees Act s90A) | Either of the above, with the settlor retaining specified powers | Settlors who want a trust for succession and asset-protection purposes but are not ready to hand over investment decision-making |
These are not mutually exclusive: a reserved-powers arrangement can sit inside either a PTC-trusteed structure or a licensed-trustee structure, since Section 90A governs which powers a settlor may retain, not who the trustee is.
A Private Trust Company is a Singapore company formed for the sole purpose of acting as trustee to a specific family’s trust or trusts — its board can include family members, family advisors, or a mix of both, giving the family direct governance participation that a purely professional trustee does not offer. Under the Trust Companies Act and the Trust Companies (Exemption) Regulations, a PTC meeting the statutory conditions is exempt from holding MAS’s trust business licence. That exemption is not unconditional: Regulation 4(2) requires the PTC to engage a MAS-licensed trust company to carry out trust administration services, including the anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism-financing checks a licensed trustee would otherwise perform directly. In practice, a PTC structure combines family governance at board level with professional AML/CFT and administrative rigour delivered by the engaged licensed trust company.
Settlors, particularly first-generation wealth creators, are often reluctant to hand over full investment control the moment a trust is settled. Section 90A of the Trustees Act 1967 addresses this directly: it confirms that a trust is not invalidated merely because the settlor reserves powers to themselves — commonly the power to direct or veto investment decisions, or to give binding investment directions to the trustee. This lets a family use a trust for its succession, confidentiality and asset-protection benefits while the settlor remains actively involved in how the underlying assets are managed, an arrangement that suits active entrepreneurs and investors more than a fully passive discretionary structure would.
Separately from the structural choice of trustee, a trust administered by a Singapore-licensed trust company can qualify for the Qualifying Foreign Trust (QFT) exemption under Section 13G of the Income Tax Act, provided neither the settlor nor any beneficiary is a Singapore citizen, Singapore resident, or Singapore-resident company. A qualifying trust’s “specified income” — including foreign-sourced rents, dividends, interest, royalties and gains from investments held outside Singapore — is exempt from Singapore tax. The QFT route is squarely aimed at genuinely foreign families using Singapore as an administration hub rather than as a place to hold Singapore-sourced assets, and it sits alongside, not instead of, Singapore’s general absence of estate duty and capital gains tax for all individuals regardless of residency.
Families new to Singapore structuring sometimes conflate a trust with a family office, but they solve different problems. A trust is a legal ownership and succession structure: it holds assets and governs who benefits from them, and when. A single family office under Section 13O or 13U is an operating structure: it employs the investment professionals who actively manage the family’s capital, and it is what MAS’s revised single family office framework licenses (via class exemption) and taxes (via the 13O/13U incentive). In practice the two are frequently combined: a family trust, or a PTC acting as trustee for several family trusts, can itself be one of the “family” entities whose assets a 13O or 13U family office manages — MAS’s definition of “family” for the SFO licensing exemption explicitly includes family trusts and wholly family-owned corporations. Families anchoring both structures and a Singapore Permanent Residence application via the Global Investor Programme’s Option C are, in effect, stacking three separate legal tools — trust, fund vehicle, and immigration status — that each require their own advice and filings.
Costs vary widely with complexity, asset mix and the number of jurisdictions involved, and the figures below are drawn from current published estimates by Singapore trust and corporate-services practitioners rather than a fixed official fee schedule — treat them as a planning range, not a quote.
| Structure | Typical setup cost | Typical annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone discretionary trust, licensed trustee | S$15,000–S$35,000 | S$15,000–S$60,000 |
| PTC-trusteed family trust structure | S$50,000–S$150,000 | S$60,000–S$200,000+ |
A PTC costs materially more to set up and run than a standalone licensed-trustee structure, because the family is effectively capitalising and maintaining its own trustee company — including its own board governance, its own annual corporate compliance, and the fee for the licensed trust company it must engage under the PTC exemption — on top of the trust administration itself. Families weighing the extra cost against a standalone structure are usually weighing it against the value of direct board control, not against the underlying trust administration, which a licensed trustee can deliver either way.
No. Singapore abolished estate duty for deaths on or after 15 February 2008, and does not impose a separate inheritance tax. Assets passing on death are generally not taxed at the point of transfer, though the underlying assets may still be subject to ordinary income tax on income they generate.
Yes, within limits. Section 90A of the Trustees Act 1967 allows a settlor to reserve investment powers — such as the right to direct or veto investment decisions — without invalidating the trust, provided the reservation is properly documented in the trust deed.
Most families do not need a PTC. A standalone discretionary trust with a MAS-licensed trust company as trustee is materially cheaper to set up and run, and is the more common choice. A PTC becomes attractive mainly for very substantial or multi-generational structures where the family specifically wants board-level participation in trustee decisions, rather than delegating those decisions entirely to a professional trustee.
No. A trust is a legal structure for holding and governing assets across generations. A single family office set up under Section 13O or 13U is an operating entity that employs investment professionals to actively manage capital, and separately carries MAS licensing and tax-incentive conditions. Many families use both together — a family trust as the holding structure, with a 13O or 13U family office managing the assets inside it.
Families where neither the settlor nor any beneficiary is a Singapore citizen or tax resident, using a Singapore-licensed trustee purely as an administration hub for foreign-sourced wealth. Families who are or intend to become Singapore tax residents should model their position without assuming QFT eligibility, since residency status is tested at both the settlor and beneficiary level.
The estate duty abolition date, the Section 90A reserved-powers provision, and the Private Trust Company licensing exemption were checked against Singapore’s official legislation portal and MAS’s published Trust Companies Act materials on 17 September 2026. The Qualifying Foreign Trust exemption was checked against Section 13G of the Income Tax Act and the Income Tax (Exemption of Income of Foreign Trusts) Regulations. Indicative setup and running costs are drawn from current published estimates by Singapore-licensed trust and corporate-services practitioners, since no fixed official fee schedule exists for private trust structuring; treat them as a planning range and confirm current pricing directly with a licensed provider. Sources:
This guide is provided for general information and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice. Trust structuring involves irreversible decisions with cross-border implications — consult a qualified Singapore trust and estate lawyer before settling a trust. Last verified: 17 September 2026.
VIVOS Pte. Ltd. coordinates trust, family office and immigration structuring as one engagement — incorporation, the 13O/13U application, Employment Passes for family and key staff, and introductions to Singapore’s licensed trust companies, so your succession structure, your fund vehicle and your immigration status are designed together rather than separately. VIVOS is an ACRA Registered Filing Agent (Licence FA20240323) and MOM-licensed Employment Agency (Licence 24S2425).
Talk to a specialist: WhatsApp +65 9366 9399 or contact@vivos.com.sg.
Related: see our 13O vs 13U family office comparison, our Single Family Office Framework guide, and our Employment Pass guide for family office principals and key staff.
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