Singapore · Tax regime
Fund Tax Exemption Schemes for Single Family Offices (sections 13O and 13U)
Open, administered by MAS. Conditions were tightened in 2023 and refreshed thereafter; MAS updates the conditions periodically and the figures below should be re-confirmed with MAS before structuring.
This is the actual reason most large families are in Singapore. 13O/13U exempt specified income from designated investments — the fund's investment returns — from Singapore tax. Combined with no capital gains tax and no estate duty, a properly structured SFO can hold a global portfolio at close to zero Singapore tax leakage. The catch is that MAS now prices this in substance, not paperwork.
Qualifying routes
Singapore-incorporated fund vehicle; minimum fund size of SGD 20m at application and throughout; minimum local business spending and investment professional headcount conditions apply
Minimum fund size SGD 50m; higher local spending and headcount requirements; no restriction on fund vehicle jurisdiction
The facts
- Qualifying figure
- 20M SGD
- Total landed cost
- Setup and MAS application typically SGD 150k–400k; ongoing audit, compliance, tax and administration commonly SGD 200k+ per annum, before the mandated local business spending
- Timeline
- 3–9 months — MAS review; timelines lengthened materially after the 2023 tightening
- Physical presence
- The family office must have substance in Singapore: local investment professionals and real local spending
- Family
- not a residence programme in itself — principals and staff obtain EPs; the SFO also underpins GIP Option C
- Permanent residency
- none directly; commonly paired with Employment Passes or GIP Option C
- Citizenship
- none directly
- Language test
- none
- Dual citizenship
- Not permitted — you would have to renounce
- Requirements
- Single family office structure with the fund beneficially owned by one familyMinimum AUM (SGD 20m for 13O, SGD 50m for 13U) maintainedMinimum number of investment professionals employed in SingaporeMinimum annual local business spending, scaled to AUMCapital Deployment Requirement — a mandated allocation to Singapore-linked investmentsMAS approval
- The 2023 tightening raised minimum AUM, local investment professional headcount (including a requirement for non-family-member professionals) and local business spending, and added a mandatory allocation to local investments via the Capital Deployment Requirement. Advisers still quoting pre-2023 conditions are out of date.
- MAS conditions change with some regularity and are applied at the point of approval AND on an ongoing basis. Breaching a condition can cost the exemption retroactively.
- This is a tax exemption, not a residence permit. It does not give the principal the right to live in Singapore — that requires a separate pass.
- Singapore is a full CRS participant. The SFO gives no confidentiality from your home tax authority, and families from CFC jurisdictions may find the fund attributed back to them anyway.