When is a Singapore company's Annual Return due?

A non-listed Singapore company must file its Annual Return with ACRA within 7 months of its financial year end. A company with a 31 December year end therefore files by 31 July of the following year. Listed companies have shorter timelines.

Does every Singapore company have to hold an AGM?

Non-listed companies must generally hold an AGM within 6 months of financial year end, but private companies can be exempt if they send financial statements to members within 5 months of FYE, or can dispense with AGMs entirely by members' resolution. The Annual Return can only be filed after the AGM position is settled.

Which companies must file financial statements in XBRL?

Companies required to file financial statements with ACRA generally file in XBRL: a full XBRL set if annual revenue is S$500,000 or more, or a simplified XBRL set below that. Solvent exempt private companies (20 or fewer shareholders, no corporate shareholders) are generally exempt from filing financial statements, and may file a declaration of solvency instead.

What is the penalty for filing an Annual Return late in Singapore?

ACRA's late lodgement penalty is S$300 if filed within 3 months after the deadline, and S$600 if later. Persistent breaches expose directors to composition or prosecution with fines of up to S$5,000 per offence, and repeat offenders risk disqualification from acting as directors.

ACRA Annual Filing Requirements 2026: AGM, Annual Return, XBRL & Penalties

Every Singapore company files every year — profitable, dormant or somewhere in between. The obligations sit with the directors personally, and the penalty ladder climbs from S$300 to prosecution. Here's the full calendar in plain English.

The annual sequence

For a non-listed company, the year-end compliance sequence runs:

Financial statements prepared under SFRS — audited, unless the company qualifies for the small-company audit exemption.
AGM within 6 months of financial year end — unless your private company is exempted (financial statements sent to members within 5 months of FYE) or has dispensed with AGMs by members' resolution.
Annual Return filed with ACRA within 7 months of financial year end, via BizFile+. A 31 December year end means a 31 July deadline.

On the tax side, in parallel: Estimated Chargeable Income to IRAS within 3 months of FYE, and the corporate tax return (Form C-S/C) by 30 November.

Try it

Your filing deadlines, calculated

Your financial year end

Non-listed companies. AGMs can be exempted or dispensed with; dormant companies still file. A general guide, not professional advice.

The XBRL question

If your company files financial statements with the Annual Return, they generally go in XBRL format:

Revenue S$500,000 or more — full XBRL set
Revenue under S$500,000 — simplified XBRL set
Solvent exempt private companies (20 or fewer shareholders, none of them corporate) — generally exempt from filing financial statements at all; a solvency declaration suffices

XBRL conversion is exactly the kind of task worth outsourcing: it's fiddly, it's judged mechanically, and errors mean re-filing. It's included in our compliance packages.

What non-compliance actually costs

Late Annual Return: S$300 penalty within the first 3 months late; S$600 beyond that.
Persistent breaches: composition offers or prosecution of the company and its officers — fines of up to S$5,000 per offence.
Repeat offenders: directors with three or more filing convictions within five years face disqualification from acting as directors.

The money is annoying; the disqualification risk and the compliance record are the real issue. Banks and government tenders check.

Dormant companies file too

Dormancy reduces the paperwork (dormant companies are generally exempt from audit and may have simplified obligations) but does not remove the Annual Return. "We didn't trade" is not a defence for not filing.

The fix is boring: a calendar and an owner

Almost every late filing we've cleaned up had the same root cause — no single owner of the deadline. Giving the whole sequence one owner costs a fraction of the time, penalties and awkward bank conversations it prevents. Talk to us about a single annual scope — we handle tax, compilation and XBRL directly, and for corporate secretarial we'll point you to providers we're comfortable with.

This guide summarises ACRA and IRAS annual obligations for non-listed Singapore companies as at July 2026. General information, not advice on your specific circumstances.