Closing Company Services

Due to the recent Coronavirus 19 and the Circuit Breaker imposed by the Government, many businesses have found it a financial burden to continue in business.  It will take some time from 6 months to a year for the business to recover to its previous level of sales but now the world economy is also going into RECESSION, so can sales really recover to pre COVID19 days?.

It would be better to cut your losses now and save whatever cash you have then to continue to stay open for business when every month you will be making  losses.

In Singapore there are 6 ways your business can close down a company

We specialise in helping Companies to Close Down By either Striking Off or Members Voluntary Winding up.    Check out Packages for Closing Down Companies.

STRIKING OFF A COMPANY

As a director, you may apply to ACRA to strike off the company’s name from the register. ACRA may approve the application if it has reasonable cause to believe that the company is not carrying on business and the company is able to satisfy the following criteria for striking off.

  • The company has not commenced business since incorporation or has ceased trading.
  • The company has no outstanding debts owed to Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board and any other government agency.
  • There are no outstanding charges in the charge register.
  • The company is not involved in any legal proceedings (within or outside Singapore).
  • The company is not subject to any ongoing or pending regulatory action or disciplinary proceeding.
  • The company has no existing assets and liabilities as at the date of application and no contingent asset and liabilities that may arise in the future.
  • All/majority of the director(s) authorise you, as the applicant, to submit the application for striking off on behalf of the company.

The Company must prepare Final Management Accounts for tax clearance with IRAS;  submit final GST Returns and de-register ; and obtain shareholders approval, before can proceed with the Strike Down application to ACRA.   

NOTE: Please ensure that there is no outstanding tax credit owing to the company before applying for striking off. When the company is dissolved, any tax credit due to the company will be paid over to the Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office (IPTO). The shareholders of the defunct company may approach IPTO if they wish to claim the tax credit. Please note that IPTO may impose charges for the processing of the claim.

Any interested person can submit an objection against a striking off application. There is no fee payable for this transaction. If ACRA receives any objection, ACRA will inform the company of the objection. The company is given 2 months to resolve the matter. If the company is unable to resolve the matter within 2 months, the striking off application will lapse. The company can only submit a new application after the objection has been cleared. How long this will take depends on the Company and the Objector ablility to resolve the issues for objection :

if it is a Creditor of the Company, who will object if they have an issue of unsettled invoice

if it is a Customer of the Company, who will object if they think they will lose out on benefit of warranty of goods purchased

if it is a Shareholder of the Company, who is a minority shareholder the 25% who did not vote in favour of the resolution to close down the Company

  1. Once the application is approved, ACRA may send a striking off notice to the company’s registered office address, its officers (such as director, company secretary and shareholder) at their address in our records..
  2. After 30 days from the approval of the striking off application, if there is no objection, ACRA will publish the name of the company in the Government Gazette. This is known as the First Gazette Notification.
  3. After 60 days from the First Gazette Notification, if there is no objection, ACRA will publish the name of the company in the Government Gazette again and the name of the company will be struck off the register. The date that the company is struck off will be stated. This is known as the Final Gazette Notification.

The entire process will take at least 4 months, if there were No Objections received.

Members’ Voluntary Winding up

A company may decide to wind up its affairs voluntarily if the directors believe that the company will be able to pay its debts, in full, within 12 months after the commencement of the winding up. The company will appoint a liquidator, or provisional liquidator, to wind up its affairs and file the necessary notifications required under the Companies Act. For more details, please  seek professional advice, from us.