Singapore Company for Japanese Founders and Korean Founders: Tax Treaty Rates, Resident Director and EP

Short answer: A Japanese or Korean founder can own 100% of a Singapore private company, but it needs at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore. Most founders use a nominee director until they qualify for an Employment Pass. Singapore taxes company profits at 17%, does not withhold tax on dividends, and has tax treaties with Japan and Korea.

Setting up a Singapore company for Japanese founders, or for Korean founders, means working through two sets of rules. Singapore decides who sits on the board, how the company is registered and how its profits are taxed. Japan or Korea decides how you, or your parent company, are taxed at home and what you must report. This guide covers the Singapore side and flags the questions for a home-country tax adviser.

Raffles Corporate Services works with a panel of experienced Singapore law firms who offer cost-effective and efficient legal service and advice. This article is general information only and is not legal advice.

Can a Japanese or Korean founder own and run a Singapore company?

Yes. Singapore has no nationality requirement for shareholders, so a Japanese or Korean individual or company can hold all the shares. The condition is on the board: at least one director must be ordinarily resident in Singapore.

Section 145(1) of the Companies Act 1967 sets the rule, and section 145(5) stops the last resident director from resigning unless another resident director remains. ACRA’s guidance lists Singapore citizens, permanent residents and valid holders of an Employment Pass (EP), Personalised Employment Pass or Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass as meeting it. ACRA also says foreigners must engage a corporate service provider (CSP), a firm registered with ACRA to file for clients, to reserve a name and register the company.

The company also needs a company secretary, appointed within six months of registration, and a registered office in Singapore that is open to the public for at least three hours on each business day.

How do you meet the resident director rule without living in Singapore?

Either appoint someone who already qualifies, or move to Singapore on a work pass and become the resident director yourself.

Raffles Corporate Services publishes its nominee director fee: from S$2,000 a year, plus a S$3,000 refundable deposit. When your own EP is approved, the nominee can step down; our article on planning the board handover when a founder’s EP is approved explains the timing.

How do you incorporate a Singapore company from Japan or Korea?

A CSP reserves the name and files the registration through ACRA’s Bizfile system after completing its own checks on you. You do not need to travel to Singapore to incorporate.

1. Choose a company name; the CSP files the name application (S$15).
2. Complete the CSP’s customer due diligence: passport, proof of address, shareholder and controller details, and source of funds. For remote transactions, Raffles Corporate Services also holds a video call.
3. Decide the share capital, financial year end and directors, including the resident director.
4. Sign the director’s consent and the constitution (most small companies use the model constitution).
5. The CSP files the registration and pays the S$300 ACRA fee. ACRA approves most registrations soon after payment; complex cases may take up to 15 working days.
6. Appoint the company secretary, open the bank account and diarise filing and tax deadlines.

Raffles Corporate Services incorporates within 1 business day of receiving complete documents, subject to compliance checks. Our published Incorporation of Company Package is S$450, and a compliance check fee of S$400 applies for non-resident individuals (S$250 for non-resident entities). ACRA lists its official company fees online.

How is a Singapore company for Japanese founders taxed?

The company pays a flat 17% corporate income tax on chargeable income, with exemptions that lower the effective rate on the first S$200,000.

A new company can claim the start-up tax exemption for its first 3 Years of Assessment: 75% exemption on the first S$100,000 and 50% on the next S$100,000 of normal chargeable income. Otherwise the partial tax exemption applies: 75% on the first S$10,000 and 50% on the next S$190,000. Our start-up tax exemption guide has worked examples. Two conditions often catch foreign founders:

• Shareholders. The start-up exemption needs no more than 20 shareholders, and either all are individuals or at least one individual holds at least 10% of the ordinary shares. A company wholly owned by your Japanese or Korean company will not qualify. Investment holding and property development companies are excluded.
• Tax residence. IRAS treats a company as tax resident where its control and management is exercised, looking at where board meetings and strategic decisions take place and where directors are based. If every real decision is made in Tokyo or Seoul, the company may not be Singapore tax resident, which also affects treaty claims.

What do the Singapore-Japan and Singapore-Korea tax treaties change?

A double tax agreement (DTA) caps the tax one country can withhold on payments to residents of the other. For a Singapore company, this matters most when it pays interest or royalties to Japan or Korea, or receives dividends from a subsidiary there.

Singapore’s domestic withholding tax rates are 15% on interest and 10% on royalties. Singapore does not withhold tax on dividends, and IRAS says no withholding is needed even where a treaty lists a dividend rate. Under the one-tier corporate tax system, the company’s tax is final, so dividends are not taxed again in Singapore in the shareholder’s hands. How Japan or Korea taxes them is a home-country question.

Treaty rates apply only where the recipient is the beneficial owner and each article’s conditions are met. To claim benefits abroad, the Singapore company usually needs a certificate of residence from IRAS. The treaty texts are on the IRAS list of DTAs.

What should you check at home in Japan or Korea?

Check how your home country will treat the Singapore company before you fund it. Singapore’s rate alone does not decide your total tax bill.

For Japanese founders and parent companies, ask whether Japan’s controlled foreign company rules could attribute the Singapore profits back to Japan. For Korean founders and parent companies, ask what overseas investment or foreign exchange reporting applies when money leaves Korea, and how Korea taxes later dividends. We do not advise on Japanese or Korean law, so confirm these points with a Japanese or Korean tax adviser and keep the advice on file.

How does a Japanese or Korean founder relocate on an Employment Pass?

The Singapore company applies to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for your EP as its employee. You must earn at least the qualifying salary for your age and, unless exempt, score 40 points under COMPASS, MOM’s points-based framework.

According to MOM’s EP eligibility page, the qualifying salary outside financial services is S$5,600 a month at age 23 or below, rising to S$10,700 at 45 and above (S$6,200 to S$11,800 in financial services). For new applications from 1 January 2027 it becomes S$6,000 to S$11,500 (S$6,600 to S$12,700 in financial services). A fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500 exempts you from COMPASS. Employers must also meet the Fair Consideration Framework job advertising requirement before a new application, unless exempt.

Our associated MOM-licensed agency, Little Big Employment Agency, handles work pass applications through singaporeemploymentagency.com.

What documents will a Singapore bank ask for?

Expect full know-your-customer checks on the company, every director and every shareholder or controller.

• Company: ACRA business profile, constitution and a board resolution to open the account.
• Identity: passports and proof of address for directors, signatories and beneficial owners.
• Ownership: a structure chart down to the individuals, plus parent company documents where a Japanese or Korean company holds the shares.
• Business case: customers, suppliers, countries and expected transaction volumes.
• Source of funds: evidence of where the capital comes from, which links back to any home-country filings.

Some banks want to meet signatories in person. Our guide to opening a corporate bank account in Singapore explains why applications stall.

Are there incentives for a regional headquarters in Singapore?

Yes, but they target substantial operations rather than new founder companies. The Economic Development Board (EDB) assesses them case by case.

EDB’s Pioneer Certificate Incentive and Development and Expansion Incentive offer a tax exemption or a concessionary rate of 5% or 10% on qualifying income, for an incentive period limited to five years. Companies managing, coordinating and controlling a group’s business from Singapore may apply for their headquarters activities. EDB weighs jobs created, business spending and capability building, so these suit an established Japanese or Korean group anchoring a real team here. For a parallel guide for another market, see Singapore company setup for Chinese founders, and try our free tools for compliance dates and estimates.

Frequently asked questions

Can I be the only director while I live in Tokyo or Seoul?

No. Section 145(1) of the Companies Act 1967 requires at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore. You can serve alongside a resident director, such as a nominee, until you relocate on a work pass.

Does Singapore tax the dividends my company pays me?

Singapore does not withhold tax on dividends, and one-tier dividends are not taxed again in Singapore. Japan or Korea may tax them, so check with your home-country adviser.

Can a company owned by my Japanese or Korean company claim the start-up tax exemption?

Only if all shareholders are individuals or at least one individual holds at least 10% of the ordinary shares, and the other conditions are met. Otherwise it uses the partial tax exemption.

What if a Korean customer does not pay my Singapore company?

You may need to sue and then enforce the judgment in Korea through Korean counsel. See our article on enforcing a Singapore judgment in Korea, and speak to a lawyer early.

Do I need to travel to Singapore to incorporate?

No. A CSP can file for you after its checks, which at Raffles Corporate Services include a video call for remote transactions.

Last reviewed: 19 October 2026. The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services.