Global Tax Exempt Holding Companies in 2025
| Global Tax Exempt Holding Companies | Netherlands | Luxembourg | Singapore | UAE | Hong Kong | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary at a Glance | ||||||
| Type of LLC | Resident | Resident | Resident | Resident | Resident | Look-through |
| How long to set the company up? | 3 weeks | 3 weeks | 1 week | 2 months | 1 week | 1 week |
| How long to open company bank account? | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | 5 weeks | 3 weeks | 3 weeks |
| Issued share capital required | €1 | €12,395 | US$1 | US$1 | US$1 | US$1 |
| Corporate bank account location | ABN AMRO | ING Luxembourg | DBS Singapore | SCB Dubai | HSBC HK | HSBC NZ |
| Tenancy agreement required before incorporation? | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Do you travel for company incorporation? | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Legal considerations | ||||||
| Resident director required? | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Resident shareholder required? | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Minimum number of directors | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Minimum number of shareholders | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Resident company secretary required? | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Individual shareholders allowed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Corporate shareholders allowed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Corporate director(s) allowed | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Public register of shareholders and directors | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Tax and accounting considerations | ||||||
| Corporate tax payable on qualifying dividends % | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Must prepare annual financial statements | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Statutory audit exemption possible? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Annual tax return to be submitted | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Access to how many double tax treaties | 96 | 77 | 75 | 71 | 37 | 40 |
| How long to get work permit approved | 2 months | 2 months | 1 month | 4 weeks | 3 months | 2 months |
| Can the entity hire expatriate staff in the country? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Access to EU directives? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| VAT number possible? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Thin Capitalization rules | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| IP box regime | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Logistics considerations | ||||||
| Allowed to sign sales contracts with local clients | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Allowed to invoice local clients | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Average monthly salary of unskilled labour | €2,205 | €1,923 | US$4,427 | US$4,300 | US$1,644 | US$4,202 |
| English spoken by what % of the population | 90% | 60% | 80% | 78% | 46% | 96% |
| Literacy rate % | 99% | 100% | 97% | 94% | 93% | 99% |
| Computer literacy rate % | 93% | 65% | 94% | 80% | 94% | 89% |
| Office rental per square meter per month | US$19 | US$20 | US$30 | US$40 | US$28 | US$31 |
| Warehouse rental per square meter per month | US$30 | US$30 | US$25 | US$30 | US$20 | US$5 |
| Moody’s country credit rating | Aaa | Aaa | Aaa | Aa2 | Aa1 | Aaa |
| Internet connectivity rating | Excellent | Good | Excellent | Good | Excellent | Good |
| GDP per capita (US$) | 44,433.4 | 101,450 | 52,889 | 40,438 | 42,423 | 37,808 |
| Government liberal or controlling of daily business | Liberal | Liberal | Liberal | Liberal | Liberal | Liberal |
| Population % tertiary enrollment | 79% | 75% | 88% | 19% | 67% | 79% |
| Ease of doing business ranking (lower the better) | 28 | 59 | 2 | 26 | 4 | 1 |
| Population (in thousand) | 16,936 | 570 | 7,306 | 9,157 | 5,535 | 4,595,700 |
| Unemployment rate | 6.9% | 6.1% | 3% | 3.2% | 3.6% | 4.6% |
| Inflation rate (2016) | 0.1% | 0.4% | -0.2% | 0.6% | 2.7% | 0.2% |
| GDP 2015 US$ billion | 753 | 58 | 293 | 370 | 310 | 174 |
| GDP annual growth (2015) | 2% | 4.8% | 2.0% | 3.2% | 2.4% | 3.4% |
