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Compliance and tax structure:
moving people and money out legally

Incorporation is the start. What actually costs companies money is tax residency, outbound capital filing and annual returns — the things nobody reminds you about.

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Four scenarios

You are probably stuck on one of these

01 · People
Employment Pass & residency

COMPASS shortfalls, mismatched role and salary framing, rejected renewals. Remediation has to be designed before filing, not after rejection.

02 · Tax
Tax residency & transfer pricing

Incorporation does not create tax residency. Related-party transactions need a defensible pricing basis, and withholding tax depends on treaty access.

03 · Capital
Outbound investment filing

Onshore capital leaving China normally requires ODI filing. Without it, both the investment and the eventual repatriation are blocked.

04 · Maintenance
Annual compliance

Annual returns, tax filings, audit exemption tests, secretary and address upkeep, licence renewals. Miss one and the penalty is automatic.

Misconceptions

Five sentences that
generate our inbound calls

Each of these is widely repeated online, and each maps to a real penalty, reassessment or rejected pass.

  • "Incorporating makes me a Singapore tax resident" — no; a Certificate of Residence is a separate application
  • "One dollar of share capital is fine" — it registers, but it affects banking and EP scoring
  • "Incorporate first, move the money later" — without ODI filing the money cannot leave or return
  • "No revenue means no filing" — a nil return is still a return, and late means a penalty
  • "I decide the price between my own companies" — it must satisfy the arm's length principle, with documentation
Deliverables

A health check that produces an action list

Health check
Four categories: people (EP), tax (residency, transfer pricing), capital (ODI, FX), maintenance (filings, licences)
Risk register
Each item tagged with severity, likely consequence, remediation action and time required
Structure advice
Where the current structure has a hard flaw, a transition path rather than a rebuild
Filing calendar
Every filing date for the next twelve months, ready to hand to finance
Southeast Asia Compliance Checklist (PDF) — 32 of the most common items from our health check, packaged so you can self-assess internally. Request it via the contact page.
FAQ

Compliance questions we hear most

Is outbound investment filing mandatory?
Where an onshore Chinese entity funds an offshore company with its own capital, ODI filing is normally required. Without it, both the capital outflow and later repatriation of profits can be blocked.
Must a Singapore company be audited?
Companies meeting the small-company thresholds for revenue, total assets and employees are exempt from audit, but must still keep accounts and file returns. Eligibility is reassessed each year.
What is transfer pricing, and does a small company need it?
Related-party transactions must be priced on an arm's length basis. Cross-border related-party volumes above certain thresholds require contemporaneous documentation; smaller groups should still retain a defensible pricing basis.
What does tax residency actually give me?
Access to treaty benefits, reduced withholding tax on dividends and interest, and room to structure at group level. It does not follow automatically from incorporation.
What happens if compliance slips?
Typical consequences include fines, strike-off, director restrictions, rejected EP renewals and closed bank accounts. Most of these are avoidable, but remediation costs far more than prevention.
Can you do just the health check?
Yes. The health check is a standalone service producing a prioritised issue list. You can implement it internally or engage us to do so.

Check first, fix what matters

The health check produces a prioritised list. You can fix it yourself or hand it to us.

Book a health check →
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