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Looking for a reliable process agent in Singapore? Whether you are a foreign entity without a physical office in Singapore, or you need to satisfy a lender’s requirements for a cross-border financing deal, BluTrust can act as your appointed process agent. We ensure full compliance with Singapore’s legal service-of-process requirements, so you can focus on your business.

 

Process Agents

A process agent in Singapore serves court papers for foreign entities or financial transactions, facilitating legal processes. BluTrust provides this service, ensuring compliance and ease in legal matters.

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What is a process agent in Singapore?

A process agent is an individual or entity to whom court papers can be served on your behalf. To keep legal processes simple, financial institutions and lenders will include a clause in their agreements requiring you to appoint a local company as your process agent in Singapore.

This means that if a lawsuit is commenced against you by the financial institution or lender, they do not need to physically deliver the papers to you overseas. Instead, they deliver the documents to your process agent, who then forwards them to you.

Why and when do you need one?

You would typically need a process agent in Singapore if:

  • You are a foreign entity without a physical office in Singapore, or
  • You want to approach a financial institution or any other lender in Singapore to finance a transaction.

Any type of contract where one party may need to be able to sue the other would require a process agent, especially if one party is a foreign entity. Common examples of such contracts include:

  • Ship and aircraft financing deals
  • Ship and aircraft jet engine lease contracts
  • Securities and derivatives transactions
  • Structured finance and project finance deals

In each of these scenarios, the Singapore-based counterparty will require you to appoint a process agent before the agreement can be executed.

How to Appoint a Process Agent in Singapore

A simple letter of appointment will suffice as a contract between you and your process agent.

However, if you are entering into a loan agreement, the appointment documentation will need to cover at least the duration of the repayment period to meet your lender’s requirements. The documentation should also include your overseas contact details where you want the process agent to forward court documents.

Most process agents will require payment for their services before they can provide the letter of appointment. You will need to provide the following details together with payment:

  • Identification documents (for yourself and the other party)
  • Nature and quantum of the contract(s) for which a process agent is required
  • Number of contracts and duration for which a process agent is required
  • Overseas or local contact details to which you want any court papers to be forwarded

Why Choose BluTrust as Your Process Agent in Singapore?

BluTrust is a Singapore-based professional services firm with decades of experience supporting foreign entities operating in and through Singapore. When you appoint BluTrust as your process agent, you benefit from:

  • A trusted local presence: Our office is centrally located at The Adelphi, 1 Coleman Street, Singapore 179803, with a supporting office in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
  • Full-service support : Beyond process agent services, BluTrust offers corporate secretarial, accounting, tax advisory, and business solutions, giving you a single point of contact for your Singapore compliance needs.
  • Prompt document handling : We ensure that any court papers or legal notices served on our office are forwarded to you immediately via your preferred communication channel.
  • Cross-border expertise : We regularly advise clients with operations spanning Singapore, Malaysia, and the wider ASEAN region

 

Capital Allowances

Deductions for the decline in value of depreciating assets are available under the Uniform capital allowance (UCA) system. In addition to the rules for depreciating assets, deductions are allowed for certain other capital expenditure.

Small business entities have the option of choosing simplified depreciation rules. Under these rules, small business entities can claim an immediate deduction if the cost is below the relevant threshold or else add the asset to the small business depreciation pool.

Land, trading stock and most intangible assets (excluding exceptions such as intellectual property and in-house software) are not depreciating assets.

The decline in value is generally calculated by spreading the cost of the asset over its effective life, using one of two methods:

Prime cost method – decline in value each year is calculated as a percentage of the initial cost of the asset
Diminishing value method – decline in value each year is calculated as a percentage of the opening depreciated value of the asset
MORE: Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Decline in value calculator.

For most depreciating assets, taxpayers can either self-assess the effective life, or use estimates published by the ATO. Taxpayers can recalculate, either up or down, the effective life of an asset if the circumstances of use change and the effective life initially chosen is no longer accurate. An improvement to an asset that increases its cost by 10% or more in a year may result in an obligation to recalculate the effective life of the asset.

Decline in value of cars is restricted to the car limit. From 1 July 2022, the luxury car tax threshold for luxury cars is $64,741 (it was $60,733 for the year commencing 1 July 2021). Luxury car leases are treated as a notional sale and purchase, with decline in value restricted to the car limit.

The decline in value of certain depreciating assets with a cost or opening adjustable value of less than $1,000 can be calculated through a low-value pool. The decline in value for depreciating assets in the pool is calculated at an annual diminishing value rate of 37.5%.

Changes for 2022 and 2023

From 12 March 2020 until 31 December 2020, the asset cost threshold for the instant asset write-off (which is usually only available to small business entities) has increased from $30,000 to $150,000 and the eligibility criteria expended to cover entities with an aggregated turnover threshold of less than $500 million (up from $50 million).

Further, from 12 March 2020 until 30 June 2021 the Backing business investment measure applied to businesses with aggregated turnover below $500 million and provides either:

A deduction of 50% of the cost or opening adjustable value of an eligible asset on installation (existing depreciation rules apply to the balance of the asset's cost), or
For businesses using a small business depreciation pool, a deduction of 57.5% of the cost of the asset in the first year, with the balance added the asset to the small business pool
In addition, from 6 October 2020 to 30 June 2023, full expensing applies to allow eligible businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion to deduct the full cost of new eligible depreciating assets. For businesses with aggregated turnover of less than $50 million, full expensing also applies to eligible second-hand assets.

Activity Statement

Businesses use activity statements to report and pay a number of tax obligations, including GST, pay as you go (PAYG) instalments, PAYG withholding and fringe benefits tax. Non-business taxpayers who need to pay quarterly PAYG instalments also use activity statements.

Activity statements are personalised to each taxpayer to support reporting against identified obligations.

Activity statements for businesses may be due either quarterly or monthly. Generally, businesses can lodge and pay quarterly if annual turnover is less than $20 million, and total annual PAYG withholding is $25,000 or less. Businesses that exceed one or both of those thresholds will have at least some monthly obligations. Non-business taxpayers are generally required to lodge and pay quarterly.

Taxpayers with small obligations may be able to lodge and pay annually. Some taxpayers may receive an instalment notice for GST and/or PAYG instalments, instead of an activity statement.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) web site provides instructions on lodging and paying activity statements. Detailed instructions are provided for each of the different tax obligations:

GST (Goods and Services Tax)
PAYG (Pay As You Go) Instalments
PAYG (Pay As You Go) Withholding
FBT (Fringe Benefit Tax)
LCT (Luxury Car Tax)
WET (Wine Equalisation Tax)
Fuel Tax Credits