Help with trading in Singapore

[Phenom]

Hello,

I'm considering starting trading from Singapore. Can anyone please tell me about what it is like to trade from Singapore?

Are there any taxes when trading on personal account?
What's the taxes when trading through a corporation (I heard no capital gains, but trading may count as income?)?
Is there any license required for trading options or futures?

I would be very grateful if anyone could brief me on these topics.

Thanks!

 

[babeny2001]

Hi there i am from singapore. There are no capital gain tax on personal account or corporation. But if you are talking about opening a hedge fund and the license required. I am not very sure. You can look up MAS (Central Bank for Singaore) website for that.

Here is my question and maybe you can help me with it. I am a new member but i cant seem to post a new topic, only can send replies via existing threads. any idea how this forum works?

What are costs of incorporation, in case I would like to set up company in Singapore (e.g. LLC) for trading forex, commodities, stocks (no client money - just my own) Any audit required ?

 

[grega711]

What are costs of incorporation, in case I would like to set up company in Singapore (e.g. LLC) for trading forex, commodities, stocks (no client money - just my own) Any audit required ?

Do a google search for "corporation formation singapore". There are lots of companies that will set up a corp for you almost anywhere for around $1000-$1500 USD. But if you need a bank account, too, that gets a little harder.

 

[budfox83]

I've gone down this route so thought I'd just share.

Audit requirement depends on how you setup your company. If there are any corporations that are shareholders, then you will need an audit. Even so, for a small firm to do your audit will only cost around 2K/yr.

MAS is quite practical. No one really cares if you lose money for yourself, or for your own related parties. So there is no licensing requirement to do so.

One thing though is as you previously alluded, all trading income, including what you would think are capital gains, become counted as income. The same goes for say if you were flipping houses. The capital gain on each house is taxable as income because that is your "business."

That said, the tax rate is not particularly high. For new businesses you'll pay 0% on the first 300K for 3 years. And then the effective tax is for the first 300K is 8%. Remember this is on income after all your expenses.

There are ways around this, like by setting up a fund management co. and a fund vehicle. Profits on the fund would be tax free. But there are structuring and legal costs involved. If you setup a family office, there is a self-reporting exemption. So, you will not have to deal with all the onerous requirements of the lowest tier fund management co. And enjoy the tax benefits.

Anyways, I've shared a lot. Speak with a lawyer/tax advisor before you doing anything as I'm sure your circumstance is different from mine.

 

[budfox83]

No taxes on a personal account. The issue becomes when you have a business doing so. But, in theory, as a foreigner, you'd have to figure out how to be in SG with employment in the first place...

 

[richard.ong.ooi.kee]

OP is a local or foreigner in Singapore?

 

[gerryg]

Singapore still has raw laws regarding financial speculations, especially forex. You can trade freely with no concern on tax issues, licensing and other well-known point of contacts with state authorities

 

[richard.ong.ooi.kee]

The MAS does place laws on trading, e.g. on the maximum leverage allowed.