Simpler.TaxLocal tax engine What it prepares Download
  1. Simpler Tax
  2. A new company's first year
Answers · ACRA and IRAS · incorporated 15 Apr 2026, year end 31 Dec 2026

A new company's first year: every filing and its date, ACRA and IRAS

A company incorporated on 15 Apr 2026 with a 31 Dec 2026 year end has five dates in its first year: a company secretary in office by 15 Oct 2026, its ECI to IRAS by 31 Mar 2027, its AGM by 30 Jun 2027 (or the financial statements sent to every member by 31 May 2027, which replaces the meeting), its Annual Return to ACRA by 31 Jul 2027, and Form C-S for YA 2027 by 30 Nov 2027.

Every company files the Annual Return and the tax return. The AGM is the one a private company can be exempt from: send the statements out within 5 months of the year end, be dormant with total assets of S$500,000 or less, or have every member agree to dispense with it.

Computed from the rulebook, AGM routes checked by hand Edition YA-2027 · sources verified through 24 Jul 2026

The calendar, in date order

The dates below are the engine's year map for one company: incorporated 15 Apr 2026, first financial year end 31 Dec 2026, not registered for GST. Change either date and every row moves with it; the rules do not.

Incorporated 15 Apr 2026, first year end 31 Dec 2026
DateWhatRule
15 Apr 2026IncorporatedThe first financial year starts today. The company chooses its year end when it registers.engine clock
15 Oct 2026Company secretary in officeThe office may not stay vacant for more than 6 months, and it is vacant from incorporation. A sole director cannot fill it.rulebook acra.secretary
31 Dec 2026First financial year end261 days from incorporation, inside one year of assessment: YA 2027.engine clock
31 Dec 2026GST look-back testIf taxable turnover for calendar year 2026 passed S$1,000,000, apply for GST registration by 30 Jan 2027; registered from 1 Mar 2027.rulebook gst.registration.threshold
31 Mar 2027ECI to IRASWithin 3 months after the year end, unless revenue is S$5,000,000 or below and the ECI is nil.rulebook cit.eci.filing
31 May 2027Statements to members (skips the AGM)A private company that sends its financial statements to every member within 5 months after the year end need not hold the meeting.atlas acra-agm-dispensation
30 Jun 2027AGMWithin 6 months after the year end, unless exempt or dispensed with.rulebook acra.annual-return
31 Jul 2027Annual Return to ACRAWithin 7 months after the year end, with the financial statements in XBRL unless exempt.rulebook acra.annual-return
30 Nov 2027Form C-S for YA 202730 November of the year of assessment. The YA is the calendar year after the year end.rulebook forms.filing-deadline

Two rows are not filings. The year end is a date the company chose, and the GST look-back is a test that produces a filing only when it is failed. The secretary row is a deadline with nothing to lodge on the day; the appointment itself is lodged with ACRA within 14 days of being made, like any other change of officer.

The company secretary, within 6 months

The office of secretary may not be left vacant for more than 6 months at a time, and a new company has no secretary on the day it is incorporated, so the first one must be in office by 15 Oct 2026 for a company incorporated 15 Apr 2026. The secretary is a natural person whose principal or only place of residence is in Singapore.

Two rules bite a one-person company. A sole director cannot act as, or be appointed, the secretary, so a company with one director needs a second person. And for a private company that person needs no prescribed qualification; the director must only take reasonable steps to see that they have the knowledge and experience for the job.

The first year end, and which year of assessment

The first financial year runs from incorporation to the year end the company chose when it registered. Without the Registrar's approval it may end no later than 18 months after incorporation: 15 Oct 2027 for a company incorporated 15 Apr 2026. The worked company chose 31 Dec 2026, 261 days on.

The year of assessment is the calendar year after the one the financial year ends in, so the year to 31 Dec 2026 is YA 2027, and its Form C-S is due 30 Nov 2027. Every later year is the anniversary: the second year runs to 31 Dec 2027 and is YA 2028.

One thing to do that no deadline announces. IRAS issues a new company's first return for the year of assessment two years after the year it was incorporated in, YA 2028 for a company incorporated in 2026. This company closes its first year in 2026 itself, so its first YA is YA 2027, a year earlier. If it traded or received income in that first year, it asks IRAS for the YA 2027 return through the "Request for Income Tax Return for Newly Incorporated Companies" e-service on myTax Portal rather than wait for one.

Worked

A first year longer than 12 months

Had the same company chosen 30 Jun 2027 instead, its first period would run 442 days, and IRAS splits a first period longer than 12 months at the point 12 months before the year end. The opening months, 15 Apr 2026 to 30 Jun 2026, are YA 2027; the last 12 months, 1 Jul 2026 to 30 Jun 2027, are YA 2028. Both are declared in the one YA 2028 Form C-S, due 30 Nov 2028; there is no separate YA 2027 return. The ECI is still one filing, due 30 Sep 2027.

The split also decides where the start-up tax exemption starts. It runs over a qualifying company's first 3 years of assessment, and YA 2027 is the first of the 3, short as its months are. See the start-up tax exemption, worked. See year of assessment versus financial year end.

The AGM, and who is exempt from holding one

The AGM is the meeting where the financial statements are laid before the shareholders. A private company can skip the meeting itself, but not the accounts. The meeting is due within 6 months after the financial year end, 30 Jun 2027 for the worked company. A private company need not hold it on any of three routes:

  • Send the statements out early. Financial statements sent to every member within 5 months after the year end, by 31 May 2027 here, replace the meeting for that year. A member may still demand an AGM up to 14 days before the 6-month deadline, so by 16 Jun 2027, and the company then holds it by 30 Jun 2027.
  • Be dormant and small. A company that is dormant, is not listed and is not the subsidiary of a listed company, and whose total assets are S$500,000 or less, is exempt outright. Nothing is filed to claim it, and the Annual Return is still due.
  • Dispense with AGMs altogether. If every member agrees by resolution, the company holds no AGMs and deals with the business by written resolution, which can be filed with the Annual Return.

Dormant here is ACRA's meaning, no accounting transaction in the period, which is not the same as IRAS's, no business carried on and no income for the whole basis period. A company can be dormant for one and not the other. See a dormant company, both tests.

The Annual Return, the statements and the audit

The Annual Return confirms to ACRA who the company is, who runs it and who owns it, with the financial statements attached. It is due even if the company did nothing all year. The deadline is 7 months after the financial year end, 31 Jul 2027 for the worked company, filed on BizFile. The window is 8 months if the company has share capital and keeps a branch register outside Singapore.

The financial statements go with it, in XBRL. Simplified XBRL needs both tests met: revenue of S$500,000 or less and total assets of S$500,000 or less; otherwise it is full XBRL. A solvent exempt private company is excused from filing the statements at all, though it still prepares them.

Whether those statements must be audited is the small company test: at least two of the three, normally for each of the past two financial years. That is the way in. Staying in is a different rule, and this page states only the first: a company that has qualified keeps the exemption until it fails the test for two consecutive financial years, and regains it by meeting the test in two consecutive years again.

TestSmall company if
RevenueS$10,000,000 or less
Total assetsS$10,000,000 or less
Employees50 or fewer

A company in its first or second financial year has no two-year record, and qualifies by meeting two of the three for that year alone. A company in a group must pass the same test on the group's consolidated figures as well. See the small company test, worked.

Filed late, the Annual Return draws S$300 within three months of the due date and S$600 after that. ACRA is reviewing the audit thresholds; the figures above are the ones in force at the date under the answer.

ECI and Form C-S: the two IRAS filings

The ECI is an early estimate of the profit you will be taxed on, filed within three months of your financial year end, long before the real return. For a 31 Dec 2026 year end it is due by 31 Mar 2027. Every company files one, a company in its first year included, unless both waiver conditions hold for the year: revenue of S$5,000,000 or below, and a nil ECI. You assess that yourself; nothing is sent to IRAS to claim it. See the ECI due date and the waiver, worked.

The return itself, Form C-S for a company that meets its conditions, is due 30 November of the year of assessment: 30 Nov 2027 for YA 2027. Late filing draws a composition fine or a summons, and IRAS may assess you on an estimate that is payable regardless. See which return, and what goes in each box.

The GST registration test

A new company is not registered for GST unless it registers. Once your taxable turnover crosses S$1 million you must register, whether you want to or not. Looking back: taxable turnover over S$1 million for the calendar year. Looking forward: at any point you can reasonably expect to exceed S$1 million in the next 12 months.

For a company incorporated in 2026 the first look-back closes on 31 Dec 2026. Over S$1,000,000 for that calendar year, it applies by 30 Jan 2027 and is registered from 1 Mar 2027. The forward test does not wait for a year end: apply within 30 days of the forecast; for a liability arising on or after 1 Jul 2025 you are registered 2 months from the forecast date. Registered, it files a GST F5 for each quarter cut from its financial year end, one month after the quarter closes. See the two GST registration tests. See the F5 box by box.

Do it in Simpler Tax

Your own dates, on the year map

Enter the incorporation date and the first financial year end in Settings and the desk lists the ECI, Form C-S, AGM and Annual Return for each financial year with its due date, computed from the same rulebook as this page. A first year longer than 12 months is announced with its two years of assessment rather than filed as one. Simpler Tax files nothing and keeps no Corppass; it shows you the dates and prepares the figures.

Download for Windows Simpler-Tax_1.0.0_x64-setup.exe · 55 MB · not signed yet · free · SHA-256 on the home page

Questions people ask

Does a new private company have to hold an AGM in its first year?

Only if none of the three exemptions applies. The company incorporated 15 Apr 2026 with a 31 Dec 2026 year end skips the meeting by sending its financial statements to every member by 31 May 2027; a dormant company with total assets of S$500,000 or less is exempt outright; and the members may all agree to dispense with AGMs. Otherwise the AGM is due by 30 Jun 2027.

Does a sole director need a company secretary?

Yes. A sole director cannot be the secretary, so a one-person company needs a second natural person in the office, and the office may not be vacant for more than 6 months. For a private company that person needs no professional qualification.

When does a new company file its first ECI?

Within 3 months after its first financial year end: 31 Mar 2027 for a 31 Dec 2026 year end. It is waived only when revenue for the year is S$5,000,000 or below and the ECI is nil; nothing is sent to claim the waiver.

A first year longer than 12 months: how many years of assessment does it cover?

Two, and they go in one return. IRAS splits a first period longer than 12 months at the point 12 months before the year end: the opening months are the first YA and the last 12 months the second, and both go in the one return for the second YA. A company incorporated 15 Apr 2026 with a 30 Jun 2027 first year end has YA 2027 for 15 Apr 2026 to 30 Jun 2026 and YA 2028 for 1 Jul 2026 to 30 Jun 2027, in the single YA 2028 Form C-S due 30 Nov 2028.

Does a new company need an audit?

Not if it is a small company: at least two of revenue S$10,000,000 or less, total assets S$10,000,000 or less, and 50 employees or fewer. The test normally looks at the past two financial years; in the first and second year it is met on that year's own figures. Once a company has qualified it keeps the exemption until it fails the test for two consecutive financial years, so a single year over the lines does not cost it.

When must a new company register for GST?

Looking back: taxable turnover over S$1 million for the calendar year. Looking forward: at any point you can reasonably expect to exceed S$1 million in the next 12 months. For a company incorporated in 2026, the first look-back is calendar year 2026: over S$1,000,000, apply by 30 Jan 2027 and you are registered from 1 Mar 2027. The forward test can bite at any time, including the first month.

What if the Annual Return is late?

S$300 if it is filed within three months after the due date and S$600 after that, and ACRA can prosecute beyond the fee. For the worked company the return is due 31 Jul 2027.

Sources

Statutory figures on this page are read from the Simpler Tax rulebook at build time, edition YA-2027, every source last checked 24 Jul 2026. The rulebook entries named below are the ones this page was computed from; the IRAS pages are what they were verified against.