Budget 2025: Tax incentives to get more companies, fund managers to list on SGX

SINGAPORE – Tax incentives will be introduced to get more companies and fund managers to list on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) as part of measures to boost the local equities market, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Feb 18.

There will also be tax incentives for fund managers which invest substantially in Singapore-listed equities, he added.

These are part of the first set of measures recommended by the Equities Market Review Group, which was set up in August 2024 in an effort to strengthen the attractiveness of the Singapore stock market.

PM Wong said: “As enterprises scale up, they may also list on a stock exchange to access more capital. Larger companies with significant overseas revenues will typically choose to list abroad to be closer to their main consumer markets.

“But there has been feedback that the Singapore stock exchange is not attractive, even for companies that are focused mainly on Singapore and South-east Asia.”

He said that he has accepted the recommendations of the review group, which is chaired by Transport Minister and Second Minister for Finance Chee Hong Tat.

The measures are aimed at encouraging new listings in Singapore and increasing investment demand for Singapore-listed equities.

First, a corporate income tax rebate will be granted to Singapore-based companies that intend to go public. Those seeking a primary listing get a 20 per cent rebate. This rebate will be 10 per cent for those seeking secondary listings.

The rebates will be capped at $6 million per year of assessment for qualifying companies with a market cap of at least $1 billion.

Companies with a market cap of less than $1 billion will have their rebate capped at $3 million per year.

The company receiving the rebate has to remain listed for five years. This scheme is open till Dec 31, 2027.

Second, there will be an enhanced concessionary tax rate for new fund managers who want to list in Singapore to scale up their activities through public fund-raising here.

These fund managers will receive a concessionary tax rate of 5 per cent on their qualifying income, provided that it or its holding company gets a primary listing on SGX and remains listed for five years.

The fund manager must also distribute a portion of its profits as dividends, and meet requirements for minimum professional headcount and assets under management.

The scheme is open till Dec 31, 2028.

Lastly, there will also be a tax exemption for fund managers that invest substantially in Singapore-listed equities.

New funds need to have at least 30 per cent of their assets under management invested in Singapore-listed equities to get the tax exemption on their qualifying income.

Existing funds also need to meet the same requirement, in addition to having annual net inflows that are equivalent to at least 5 per cent of the fund’s assets under management in the preceding year.

This scheme is also open till Dec 31, 2028.

More details will be shared in the coming days, PM Wong said.

Earlier in February, Mr Chee

noted that strengthening the competitiveness of Singapore’s ecosystem is a challenging task with no easy solutions.

This is because a significant proportion of global capital is now concentrated in a small number of major stock exchanges such as Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore added then that the review group is working on the next set of measures to foster longer-term development and sustainable growth of Singapore’s equities market.

These measures will be presented in the second half of 2025.