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Business Encyclopedia

A

Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)
Audited Financial Statement
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Annual Report (AR)
Articles of Association
Apostille

B

BizFile
Business Grants Portal
Business Visa For Singapore
Business Profile

C

Central Provident Fund (CPF)
Certificate Of Residence (COR)
Common Reporting Standard
Common Seal
Companies Act (Cap. 50)
Company Constitution
Company Secretary
Company Stamp
CorpPass

D

Declaration of Solvency
Dependant’s Pass
Directors’ Resolution in Writing (DRIW)
Dividend
Dormant Company
Double Taxation Agreement (DTA)
Due Diligence

E

Electronic Register of Members (eROM)
Employment Pass (EP)
EntrePass
Enterprise Development Grant (EDG)
Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI)
Exempt Private Company (EPC)

F

Financial Year End (FYE)
Form 45
Form C-S/ C
Form C-S (Lite)
Fund Accounting

G

General Partnership
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
GovTech

H

Hedge Fund

I

Import/Export License
Income Tax
Initial Public Offering (IPO)
Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS)
Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS)
Interim Dividend
IR21 Form
IR8A Form

J

K

Know Your Customer (KYC)
Knowledge Capital

L

Letter of Consent (LOC)
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
Limited Partnership (LP)
Liquidation (Court Order/Compulsory)
Liquidation (Voluntary)
Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP)

M

Ministry of Manpower (MOM)
MTI

N

Nominee Director
Nominee Shareholder
National Registration Identity Card (NIRC)
Notice of Assessment (NOA)

O

P

Partnership
Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA)
Personalised Employment Pass (PEP)
Private limited company
Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)
Permanent Resident (PR)

Q

Quickbook Accounting

R

Register of Charges
Register of Nominee Director
Register of Registrable Controllers (RORC)
Registered Office Address

S

S Pass
Share
SingPass
Small Company
Sole Proprietor
Special Employment Credit
Sponsored Employment Pass
Striking Off

T

Trademark
Temporary Bridging Loan
Temporary Employment Credit (TEC)

U

UEN
Unaudited financial statement
Undischarged Bankrupt

V

Variable Capital Company (VCC)
Venture Capitalist (VC)

W

Wage Credit Scheme
Withholding Tax (Section 45)

X

XBRL
Xero

Y

Year of Assessment (YA)

Z

Zero Rated Supplies
Zero-rised Financial Statement

Exempt Private Company (EPC)

Exempt Private Company (EPC) is a private company in which there are less than 20 shareholders and no corporation, directly or indirectly, holds any shares. A private company that is wholly owned by the Government is also considered an EPC and needs to be declared by notification in the Gazette by the Minister. If a company meets these criteria as per Section 4(1) of the companies act, it automatically becomes an EPC, and no additional documents or applications are required to be submitted to the Registrar.

Benefits of an Exempt Private Company

ECP is one of the most common types of business structures found in Singapore as they offer a lot of benefits:

More Tax Exemption

Under the Start-Up Tax Exemption Scheme, all newly started ECPs are exempted from corporate tax for the first three consecutive Years of Assessment (YA). From YA 2020 onwards, an ECP will receive a 75% exemption on the first $100,000 of normal chargeable income and a 50% exception on the next $100,000. After the first three years, they can enjoy the partial tax exemption like other qualifying companies. New companies whose principal activities involve undertaking property development for sale, investment, or both, and investment holding companies can’t avail the benefits of this tax exemption scheme.

Fewer Compliance Requirements

If an ECP’s annual turnover is less than $10 million, they are exempted from accounts submissions and annual audits. But a solvency declaration signed by the company director(s) and company secretary, needs to be submitted to the Registrar of Companies in Singapore and ACRA to enjoy these benefits. They can also submit their unaudited accounts to ACRA and the Registrar. All ECPs with a turnover of $10 million and more are required to get their accounts audited and file their returns, like any other company.

Flexibility on Loans

In Singapore, as per the Companies Act, companies are not permitted to give loans to their directors or other related companies as well as provides any security or guarantee for a credit transaction entered into with another person for the benefit of a particular director(s). But an EPC is excepted from this clause and thus enjoys more flexibility in terms of financial loans.

Favorableable Foreigner-policy

In Singapore, foreigners are allowed to own 100% of shares of an ECP. As the company is a separate legal entity, foreigners have limited liability.