Singapore may not be everybody’s cup of tea. Social and cultural attitudes are still quite conservative, it’s often insufferably hot and humid, and, like in many Asian cities, lungs of steel are required when the haze descends. But as a place to do business, it’s second to none. At least according to the latest Doing Business report by the World Bank, which attempts to measure how easy (or not) it is to establish and operate a business in a given country, and which again ranks Singapore first out of the 189 jurisdictions reviewed. The relative ease with which companies in Singapore are able to discharge their tax obligations combined with relatively low tax rates are, of course, a major factor in Singapore’s enduring success in these sorts of polls. But it also goes beyond tax. It’s all well and good charging companies low rates of tax, but if it takes forever and a day to actually start your company, obtain any necessary licenses, and get hooked up to water and electricity, or you can’t trust the judicial system to enforce contracts and property rights in a fair and even-handed manner, you might as well not bother. Singapore has the best all-round package it seems — as long as the air conditioning works!

For more information on this, and other topical international tax matters, please visit: https://www.cchgroup.com/roles/corporations/international-solutions/research/global-tax-weekly-a-closer-look

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