Strike Off a Company in Singapore or Keep It Dormant? Costs, Steps and Risks Compared

If you have no realistic plan to use the company within two years, it is usually cheaper and safer to strike off your company in Singapore than to keep it dormant. A voluntary strike-off is free on Bizfile once the company owns nothing, owes nothing and has filed its tax returns. A dormant company still needs an annual return, a company secretary and a registered office every year.

This guide is for directors of a Singapore private company that has stopped trading or never started. Amounts are in Singapore dollars (SGD) and reflect ACRA and IRAS rules as at November 2026, including the faster strike-off process for applications made from 20 October 2026.

Key takeaways

• ACRA charges $0 to apply for a voluntary strike-off. A dormant company pays $60 per annual return, plus a secretary and a registered office, every year it stays on the register.
• From 20 October 2026, a strike-off takes at least two months after ACRA's approval, because of the 60-day objection window after the First Gazette notice.
• Before applying, the company must own nothing and owe nothing, with every tax return filed up to the date it stopped business and any GST registration cancelled. IRAS issues no clearance letter, so keep the latest Notice of Assessment and Statement of Account instead.
• Letting ACRA strike the company off instead is riskier: late annual returns cost $300 or $600 each when filed, ACRA can compound or prosecute, and directors of three or more companies struck off by ACRA within five years are disqualified.

Table of Contents

1. Should You Strike Off or Keep Your Company Dormant?
2. What Does It Cost to Keep a Company Dormant?
3. How Much Does a Voluntary Strike-Off Cost?
4. Strike Off vs Dormant Company: 3-Year Cost Comparison
5. How to Strike Off a Company in Singapore: Steps and Timeline
6. Members' Voluntary Winding Up vs Strike Off
7. What Happens If You Let ACRA Strike It Off?
8. Common Mistakes When Closing a Company
9. When to Get Professional Help
10. Frequently Asked Questions
11. Official Sources

Should You Strike Off or Keep Your Company Dormant?

Two questions settle most cases: will the company trade again within about two years, and does it hold anything slow or costly to recreate? The two-year line matters because IRAS waives tax filing for a dormant company only if it has no intention of restarting business within two years. A company you plan to revive sooner files a tax return every year.

Decision checklist. Strike the company off if you can give these answers:

1. Will it trade again within two years? No.
2. Does it hold a licence, contract, bank facility or track record you still need? No.
3. Are there tax losses worth keeping under the same owners? No.
4. Can it reach a point where it owns nothing and owes nothing, including to IRAS? Yes. If significant assets or creditors make this a no, see the members' voluntary winding up section below.
5. Are its tax returns filed up to cessation and any GST registration cancelled? Yes, or you are ready to complete them first.

What Does It Cost to Keep a Company Dormant?

A dormant company stays on ACRA's register, so the duties in the table below continue every year. The heavier ones fall away: a dormant relevant company (dormant since formation or its last year end, total assets (consolidated, for a parent company) never above $500,000 at any time in the year, and not listed or a listed company's subsidiary) need not prepare financial statements, dormant companies need no audit, and no Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) is due while revenue is $5 million or less and ECI is nil.

At typical market prices, the lean minimum for a locally run dormant company is about $360 to $860 a year: ACRA's $60 plus a company secretary to keep the registers and handle the annual return filing, at about $300 to $800. A company earning bank interest is not dormant for tax and needs accounts and a regular return on top. Our company secretary services page lists our current fees.

Remember the duty people forget, too: sending each registrable controller a notice at least once a year to confirm their particulars. Failing to send the notices can mean fines of up to $25,000. See what a dormant company must still file and how to get IRAS's dormant filing waiver.

How Much Does a Voluntary Strike-Off Cost?

ACRA charges nothing to apply for a voluntary strike-off on Bizfile, or to withdraw one. The cost lies in getting the company to the point ACRA requires: owning nothing and owing nothing.

Pay Out What Is Left Before You Apply

Cash in the company's bank account is an asset, so the company does not qualify until it has been paid out. Clear it in this order:

1. Pay the company's own closing costs from its account.
2. Collect any tax refund. IRAS pays credits by GIRO or PayNow Corporate within 30 days of the credit arising, and only to the company.
3. Pay out retained profits as a dividend; one-tier dividends are tax-free for shareholders.
4. Return paid-up capital through a capital reduction: a special resolution, the directors' solvency statement, six weeks in which creditors can object in court, and a final ACRA lodgement six to eight weeks after the resolution.
5. Close the bank account once it is empty and every IRAS matter is settled.

Strike Off vs Dormant Company: 3-Year Cost Comparison

Example (hypothetical): Company A stopped trading on 31 December 2025. Its sole director-shareholder lives in Singapore and uses a home address as the registered office. It has no employees, was never GST-registered, owes nothing, has filed every tax return up to cessation and holds an IRAS dormant waiver.

If bank interest stops the company being dormant for tax, it also needs yearly accounts and a regular tax return, so add an accountant's fee for each year; our annual packages list ours. If you rely on a nominee director and a commercial address, add roughly $5,100 to $12,300 over three years to the dormant column (typical market ranges).

The break-even comes fast. Even the lean path costs about $360 to $860 a year, more than the $315 ACRA charges to incorporate a new company ($15 name application plus $300 registration). Keeping a company "just in case" rarely pays on fees alone; it pays when the company holds something a new one would not.

What Re-incorporating Later Costs

• ACRA fees: $315; the $15 name fee is not refunded if the name is rejected.
• Set-up: a new UEN, Corppass access, a bank account and statutory registers. Licences, contracts, trading history and the old company's tax losses do not carry over.
• Tax: a new company may get the start-up tax exemption (SUTE) on its first three Years of Assessment (YAs) if it meets IRAS's conditions; investment holding and property development companies are excluded. A company past its first three YAs gets only the partial tax exemption, even if it earned nothing in them.

SUTE exempts up to $125,000 of chargeable income a year, against $102,500 under the partial exemption. Once chargeable income reaches $100,000, the $22,500 gap is worth $3,825 of tax a year at 17%, or up to $11,475 over three YAs, before any rebate.

How to Strike Off a Company in Singapore: Steps and Timeline

There are three main ways to close a company in Singapore: a voluntary strike-off for an empty company, a members' voluntary winding up for a solvent company with assets or creditors, and a creditors' or court-ordered winding up, usually where the company is insolvent. For a strike-off, order matters, because IRAS objects to any application made while tax matters are outstanding.

1. Confirm the company qualifies. It must have stopped trading or never started, have no registered charges, legal cases, court summonses, regulatory action or unresolved government matters, own nothing and owe nothing, and have the agreement of all or most of its directors.
2. File every tax return up to the cessation date. If that Year of Assessment's return is already open on myTax Portal, use "File Form C-S/ Form C-S (Lite)/ Form C". If the date falls in an advance YA (returns usually open in May), use "Apply for Waiver/ File last Form C-S/ C (Dormant/ Striking Off)" and file within 21 days.
3. Cancel any GST registration within 30 days of ceasing business, and file the final GST F8 within one month after the final period ends.
4. Settle tax, collect refunds and pay out the cash, in the order above.
5. Check myTax Portal and save records. Run through IRAS's strike-off checklist, then download the latest Notice of Assessment, Statement of Account and tax notices, because myTax access ends at strike-off.
6. Apply on Bizfile. First make sure the company's details are up to date, because ACRA sends the First Gazette notice to the registered office and the officers' residential addresses. A director, the secretary or a corporate service provider then files with the UEN and cessation date. Directors who must endorse it have 14 days, or it lapses.
7. Wait out the objection window. ACRA publishes the First Gazette notice ("Gazetted to be Struck Off"), and officers and interested parties have 60 days to object, a last chance for creditors to come forward. An accepted objection must be resolved within two months, or the application lapses.
8. Final Gazette. The company is dissolved at the stated date and time. Former officers must keep its books and papers for at least five years.

A company that is already clean can be struck off in as little as two months from applying. Before 20 October 2026, an extra 30-day objection stage for officers made it at least three months, so older guides overstate today's timeline.

Members' Voluntary Winding Up vs Strike Off

A strike-off only suits an empty company. If the company is solvent but holds property, investments or a large balance, or has creditors to pay, use a members' voluntary winding up (MVWL). ACRA describes it as the route where the directors believe the company can pay all its debts within 12 months of the winding up starting. The company appoints a liquidator, who realises the assets, pays the creditors and returns the surplus to shareholders before dissolution.

If the company cannot pay its debts, neither route applies. For that case ACRA lists creditors' voluntary winding up, the Simplified Winding Up Programme for micro and small companies, and court-ordered winding up, with filings under the Companies Act 1967 or the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018. Take advice early.

What Happens If You Let ACRA Strike It Off?

Some owners stop filing and wait for ACRA to close the company. ACRA can strike a company off under section 344(1) of the Companies Act 1967 when it has reasonable cause to believe the company is not carrying on business or not in operation, and ACRA says a common reason is unfiled annual returns. By then the costs have built up:

An ACRA striking-off letter dated on or after 20 October 2026 gives you 15 days to object, and ACRA says filing outstanding annual returns promptly may help. If ACRA does strike the company off, getting it back has limits. Administrative restoration is open only to former directors or members of a company that ACRA struck off itself, and they must declare that outstanding documents will be lodged and fees paid. Otherwise you need a court order within six years. See our guides to restoring a struck-off company and director disqualification.

Common Mistakes When Closing a Company

• Applying before IRAS is settled. If an IRAS objection is not resolved within two months, the application lapses and you must start again.
• Closing the bank account too early. IRAS cannot pay a refund to a director or shareholder instead, so the credit ends up with the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office.
• Forgetting the employees. If the company had staff, pay the final CPF contributions, report their income for the year on Form IR8A or through the Auto-Inclusion Scheme and, for most non-Citizen employees, file Form IR21 at least one month before they stop work.
• Signing the declaration loosely. Applying when the company does not meet the criteria can be a false declaration and lead to an investigation.
• Ignoring bank interest. Any interest, even from a fixed deposit, means the company is not dormant for tax for that Year of Assessment. A company with a waiver must tell IRAS within one month of restarting business or receiving income.
• Shredding the records. Books and papers must be kept for at least five years after dissolution.

When to Get Professional Help

You may not need us. If the company has an IRAS waiver or every return filed, owns nothing, was never GST-registered and owes nothing, the Bizfile application needs only the UEN and cessation date, and ACRA charges nothing.

Get help when returns or accounts are overdue, the company is GST-registered or holds assets, cash or capital must go back to shareholders, IRAS or a creditor has objected, you have received an ACRA striking-off letter, or no director can log in to Bizfile through Corppass.

Tax Filing SG is run by ex-Big 4 Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA members) who serve Singapore SMEs. We check whether the company qualifies, prepare the final accounts and returns, handle GST cancellation and the application, and quote once we have reviewed your case. If staying dormant suits you better, we will tell you. For context on fees, see what an accountant costs in Singapore.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to strike off a company in Singapore?

ACRA charges nothing to apply for a voluntary strike-off. The costs lie in preparing the company: final accounts and tax returns up to the date business ceased, GST cancellation if registered, and paying out the remaining cash. A dormant company with an IRAS waiver and nothing left to distribute may need only the free Bizfile application. Professional help typically costs about $300 to $1,500 (typical market range).

How long does it take to strike off a company in Singapore?

For applications made from 20 October 2026, ACRA lists approval as immediate, or up to 14 days if other directors must endorse. The First Gazette notice starts a 60-day objection window, so dissolution comes at least two months after approval. Add time beforehand for final tax returns, GST cancellation and any capital reduction, which takes six to eight weeks.

Is it cheaper to keep a company dormant or close it?

Usually it is cheaper to close it. A dormant company pays ACRA $60 per annual return and needs a company secretary every year (typical market range about $300 to $800), and more with a nominee director or commercial address. A voluntary strike-off costs nothing in ACRA fees, and a new company later costs $315 in ACRA fees. Staying dormant pays only if the company holds something a new one would not.

Can I strike off a company with money in the bank?

Not while the money is still there, because ACRA accepts applications only from companies that own nothing and owe nothing. Pay the final bills, collect any IRAS refund, pay retained profits out as a dividend and return paid-up capital through a capital reduction, then apply. With substantial assets or creditors, a members' voluntary winding up is usually the better route.

What happens to the company bank account when it is struck off?

A struck-off company no longer legally exists, so it cannot keep using the account, and money or other property left in the company can end up vested in the Official Receiver. Pay out the balance before you apply, but keep the account open until every tax matter is settled, because IRAS pays refunds only to the company. A tax credit unpaid at dissolution goes to the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office, where shareholders can claim it and processing fees may apply.

Do I need to file a final tax return before strike-off?

Yes, unless it is already filed. IRAS objects to a strike-off until every Corporate Income Tax Return up to the date business ceased is filed. If that date falls in an advance Year of Assessment, use the Apply for Waiver/ File last Form C-S/ C (Dormant/ Striking Off) service and file within 21 days. A company with an IRAS waiver that stayed dormant generally does not need to submit final accounts or a tax computation.

Can I strike off a company with outstanding annual returns?

Yes. Overdue annual returns do not by themselves stop an application if the company meets every other criterion and has no court summons. But if the strike-off fails or lapses, the company stays live and must catch up on its annual returns and late penalties. Tax returns are different: IRAS objects while any are outstanding.

Official Sources

• ACRA: Striking off a local company
• IRAS: Companies applying for strike off or to cease registration
• IRAS: Dormant companies and the tax filing waiver
• ACRA: Service and transaction fees
• ACRA: Penalties and enforcement for late annual returns
• ACRA: Director disqualification
• ACRA: Reducing share capital
• ACRA: Winding up a local company

About Tax Filing SG — We are a Singapore accounting practice run by ex-Big 4 Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA). We handle accounting, corporate tax, GST and company secretarial work for Singapore SMEs, including overdue and late filings.

Last updated: 9 November 2026. This article is general information based on IRAS and ACRA guidance as at November 2026, not advice for your specific situation. Rules, rates and deadlines change, so check the official sources above or speak to us before acting.