Doing business in Singapore for clients from Taiwan
Taiwanese companies with suppliers and customers across Southeast Asia gain a regional base in Singapore, under a tax agreement that is about to change and a trade partnership in force since 2014.
Regional management and the 2027 changeover
Technology suppliers, manufacturers and family groups from Taiwan can use a Singapore holding company to manage regional subsidiaries, employ a regional team and sponsor their work passes. Anyone with income flows between the two should review them now, because the new tax agreement applies from 2027.
Tax treaty and trade agreements
A new agreement between the two trade offices was signed on 31 December 2025 and entered into force on 13 February 2026. It takes effect on 1 January 2027 and replaces the agreement of 1982. Trade is governed by ASTEP, the Agreement between Singapore and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Partnership, signed on 7 November 2013 and in force since 19 April 2014.
Below you will find the articles written for clients from Taiwan as they are published, followed by the sections of the book Singapore as an International Financial Centre. Your own lawyers advise you on the law of Taiwan.
Singapore as an International Financial Centre
Singapore · Book
Singapore as an International Financial Centre — preface
Singapore · Origins
A Place on the Strait: Temasek, Singapura and the Maritime Trade of the Malay World
Singapore · Origins
The Strait of Malacca as a corridor of trade
Singapore · Origins
Temasek and Singapura in the fourteenth century: archaeology and chronicle
Singapore · Origins
Malacca, Johor and the Riau archipelago
Singapore · Origins
Portuguese, Dutch and British rivalry in the Straits
Singapore · Origins
What the pre-colonial port teaches about location and trust
Singapore · Origins
A Place on the Strait: Temasek, Singapura and the Maritime Trade of the Malay World: summary
Singapore · Origins
Raffles, the East India Company and the Free Port of 1819
Singapore · Origins
The East India Company and the China trade
Singapore · Origins
Stamford Raffles and William Farquhar
Singapore · Origins
The agreements with Sultan Hussein and the Temenggong
Singapore · Origins
The free-port principle: open to every flag
Singapore · Origins
Early growth and the first merchant community
Singapore · Origins
What 1819 means for the financial centre
Singapore · Origins
Raffles, the East India Company and the Free Port of 1819: summary
Singapore · Origins
The Treaties of 1824 and the Legal Foundations of British Singapore
Singapore · Origins
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824
Singapore · Origins
The Treaty of Friendship and Alliance of 1824
Singapore · Origins
The Straits Settlements and the Second Charter of Justice
Singapore · Origins
The reception of English law
Singapore · Origins
Land, title and the security of property
Singapore · Origins
Practical consequences for today’s practitioner
Singapore · Origins