A Singapore company for freelancers.What it costs, and the catch.
If you are a consultant or a small software business with clients in several countries, a Singapore company gives you a counterparty that banks and clients take seriously, for about S$2,300 in year one. This page has the real running cost, the comparison with Estonia and Dubai, and the home-country tax question that decides whether any of it makes sense.
This is how Red Dot People started. We set up our own company this way.
- Year one, self-serve
- About S$2,300
- Every year after
- S$2,000 to 3,000
- Corporate tax, first three years
- Under 6% on the first S$100,000
- Tax on dividends paid out
- None in Singapore
- Resident director
- A nominee, unless you move
- The open question
- Your home country
Costs are self-serve platform list prices for self-serve incorporation, nominee director, secretary and accounting, checked September 2026. Tax from IRAS.
Five things to know, including the one that decides it.
Why people do this
Clients, banks and payment providers treat a Singapore private limited company as a serious counterparty. It has a real regulator, a clean reputation, English-language everything, no capital gains tax, 17% corporate tax with a start-up exemption that makes the first three years far cheaper, and no tax on dividends. For a consultant with international clients or a small software business, that is the whole pitch.
What it costs a one-person company
Self-serve incorporation is about S$300 plus the S$315 government fee. A nominee director is S$1,500 to 2,000 a year with a deposit. The corporate secretary is S$300 to 600. Accounting for a low-volume company is about S$100 a month. Roughly S$2,300 in year one and S$2,000 to 3,000 every year after, all in, if you never move here and never hire.
The six steps of incorporatingThe question the sales pages skip
Where a company is managed decides where it is taxed, in most of Europe, in the UK and in a lot of other places. A Singapore company whose only director-shareholder makes every decision from a sofa in Amsterdam can be treated as tax resident in the Netherlands, taxed there, and the Singapore side becomes an expensive formality. The nominee director does not change this; tax authorities look at who actually decides. A Singapore company is clean when there is real management or presence in Singapore, or when you relocate.
- Ask a tax adviser in your home country before you incorporate, not after
- The answer differs by country and by how you work; there is no universal safe structure
- If the honest answer is "taxed at home anyway", a local company is cheaper
Singapore, Estonia e-Residency, Dubai
Estonia is cheap to start and easy to run online, and the tax on retained profit is zero, but distributions are taxed, the banking is thin, and a Dutch or German adviser will ask the same management question. Dubai free zones have no corporate tax below the threshold and a 9% rate above it, but the reputation with European banks and clients has worsened, and substance rules now require real presence. Singapore costs more than Estonia and less than most Dubai free zones once you include the mandatory extras, and its reputation is the reason the extra money is worth paying.
When to move from self-serve to a managed firm
The self-serve route is right while the company is one person, no employees, no GST and no pass. The day you decide to relocate, hire, or cross S$1 million in turnover, the nominee, the pass and the accounting become one engagement, and a managed firm is cheaper than three platforms.
Ask us which oneA one-person company, year one and after.
The self-serve route. Government fee, then the three mandatory extras, then the accountant.
| Item | Typical range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up | ||
| Government fee to incorporate | S$315 | Fixed. Name reservation S$15 plus registration S$300. |
| Corporate bank account | S$0 to open, 1 to 8 weeks | Fintech accounts open in days. Traditional banks take four to eight weeks for foreign-owned companies. |
| Ongoing | ||
| Nominee director, per year | S$1,500 to 5,000 | Some providers add a refundable deposit. Falls away once a resident director is in place. |
| Corporate secretary and address, per year | S$500 to 1,500 | Mandatory. The cheapest tier is fine for a simple company. |
| Accounting and tax, small company, per year | S$900 to 3,000 | Transaction volume and whether payroll and GST are included. |
Setting up
- Government fee to incorporateS$315
Fixed. Name reservation S$15 plus registration S$300.
- Corporate bank accountS$0 to open, 1 to 8 weeks
Fintech accounts open in days. Traditional banks take four to eight weeks for foreign-owned companies.
Ongoing
- Nominee director, per yearS$1,500 to 5,000
Some providers add a refundable deposit. Falls away once a resident director is in place.
- Corporate secretary and address, per yearS$500 to 1,500
Mandatory. The cheapest tier is fine for a simple company.
- Accounting and tax, small company, per yearS$900 to 3,000
Transaction volume and whether payroll and GST are included.
Self-serve platform list prices, checked September 2026. A managed firm costs more and does more.
Get your exact numberWho should set it up.
A platform while it is one person and nothing else. A firm when it becomes more.
A self-serve incorporation platform
Incorporation, nominee director and secretary as monthly add-ons, accounting from about S$100 a month, all in one dashboard. The cheapest compliant way to run a one-person company from abroad. It is how we did our own first incorporation.
A managed corporate services firm
When you plan to relocate, hire, or hold other companies under this one. The nominee, the pass and the accounting become one engagement, and a person answers the phone.
Singapore at all
If your tax adviser at home says the company will be tax resident there anyway. A local company then costs less and does the same job. We would rather tell you that than earn a referral fee.
How we are paid. The provider you go ahead with pays us a referral fee out of their normal price, so you pay what you would pay going direct. We name the provider and the fee in your assessment reply, once we know your situation.
What we would tell a friend who is a freelancer.
Ask the home-country question first and pay for the answer. It is a few hundred euros for an hour with an adviser, against thousands a year for a company that turns out to be taxed at home anyway.
If the answer is that you need real presence in Singapore, decide whether you would actually move. Singapore is a good place to run a small business from. It is a bad place to pretend to run one from.
Estonia is where we started. It was cheap, it was easy, and it did not answer the question either. Singapore did, once we committed to being here.
What people ask us
Can I run a Singapore company as a one-person business from Europe?
Legally in Singapore, yes, with a nominee director. Whether your home country accepts that the company is Singaporean depends on where it is managed. Get advice at home first.
How much tax does a small Singapore company pay?
For the first three years a new company pays tax on 25% of its first S$100,000 and 50% of the next S$100,000, at 17%. On S$100,000 of profit that is about S$4,250. There is no tax on dividends paid out of Singapore, but your home country may tax you on receiving them.
Do I need to visit Singapore?
Not to incorporate or to open a fintech account. Visiting helps with a traditional bank, and moving here permanently is what settles the tax question.
Can I pay myself a salary from the company while living abroad?
You can, and Singapore does not tax employment income earned outside Singapore by a non-resident. Your home country will tax it as normal. Most solo founders take dividends instead; which is better depends on home-country rules.
Is Singapore better than Estonia e-Residency for a freelancer?
For reputation with clients and banks, yes. For cost and admin, Estonia is cheaper and simpler. Neither solves the home-country management question, which is the one that matters. If you are choosing between them because of that question, the answer is probably a company at home.
Tell us where you live and who your clients are. We'll tell you whether Singapore makes sense.
Two minutes on the form. One reply from a person within a business day: whether to do it, what it costs, and the question to take to your tax adviser.