UAE company, Singapore owner: five things to get right
Singapore owners can keep the UAE side compliant remotely — where the company is controlled and the 15% foreign dividend test are the key Singapore points.
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Request a proposalSingapore-based founders and groups often run a UAE company from Singapore. The UAE filings can usually be handled remotely; Singapore's residence test and foreign dividend rules shape the rest.
Five things to get right
- Your UAE company is UAE resident for Corporate Tax wherever you live: it registers, keeps records for seven years and files an annual return, and a free zone company keeps the 0% rate only if it meets every Qualifying Free Zone Person condition, including substance in the free zone and audited financial statements.
- A company whose control and management is exercised in Singapore is Singapore resident; for virtual board meetings the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) looks at whether at least 50% of the directors with decision-making authority, or the chairman, are in Singapore.
- Under the UAE–Singapore treaty, a company resident in both countries is resident where its place of effective management is.
- UAE dividends received by a Singapore company are exempt only if they were subject to tax in the UAE and the UAE headline rate is at least 15% — the UAE's 9% (or 0% for a Qualifying Free Zone Person) does not normally meet this.
- Foreign income received in Singapore by resident individuals is generally not taxable, except through a Singapore partnership.
Keeping it transparent from Singapore
Our clients abroad use a client portal to send documents and see their filings, receive a monthly report pack with their profit and loss, balance sheet, VAT and Corporate Tax position and upcoming deadlines, and have scheduled calls with their named accountant at times that suit Singapore. Nothing is filed without their approval.
We advise on UAE tax and work alongside your Singapore adviser on the Singapore side. For the full picture, see UAE company accounting for owners in Singapore.
The Singapore points above are general information; please confirm your own position with a qualified Singapore adviser. Sources are listed on the linked page.