ACRA COMPLIANCE GUIDE · UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2026
How to strike off a company in Singapore — in the order that actually works
The ACRA part of closing a company is the easy part. The application is free, there are no documents to attach, and approval is immediate unless other directors still need to endorse it. That is why so many owners start there — and why so many strike-offs stall three months later with a letter saying IRAS has objected.
STRIKE OFF OR WIND UP
First: is strike-off even the right route?
Strike-off is for a company that is finished and clean. ACRA’s criteria, all of which must be true:
- It has stopped trading, or never started business since incorporation.
- It has no unpaid debts or unresolved issues with any government agency.
- It has no charges in the charge register.
- It is not involved in legal proceedings, in Singapore or overseas.
- It is not subject to regulatory action or disciplinary proceedings, ongoing or pending.
- It owns nothing and owes nothing — no property, no debts, no potential future claims.
- All directors, or a majority of them, agree to the strike-off.
ACRA adds a warning worth taking seriously: applying without meeting these criteria can be a false declaration and lead to an investigation.
If the company has debts it cannot settle, strike-off is not available.
The route is winding up — a liquidator, creditor notices and statutory filings. Micro companies (revenue under S$1 million) and small companies (under S$10 million) that cannot pay their debts can use the Simplified Winding Up Programme, which is cheaper than a full creditors’ voluntary winding up but still a liquidation. This guide is about the cheap route; if you are looking at the other one, get insolvency advice before doing anything else.
THE SEQUENCE
Seven steps, in this order.
The order matters more than the paperwork. This is the sequence we run for clients, with the numbers as ACRA and IRAS publish them today.
Fix the cessation date, then stop everything
The date the business ceased drives which Years of Assessment you must file for, and it goes into the Bizfile application. Pick it, stop invoicing, and stop incurring costs the company will have to pay.
Cancel GST within 30 days
If the company is GST-registered, cancellation is compulsory within 30 days of the business ceasing, and IRAS will not treat your tax affairs as settled while the registration is open. Apply on myTax Portal — most applications are approved the same day. IRAS then issues a final return, GST F8, covering the period up to the day before the effective cancellation date, due within one month of the end of that period. The F8 is an F5 with two extra jobs: output tax on business assets still held on the last day of registration if their open market value exceeds S$10,000 and input tax was claimed on them, and output tax on supplies delivered before cancellation but invoiced or paid after. One catch: if you registered voluntarily, you must have stayed registered for at least two years before you can cancel.
Close the books to the cessation date and file the final tax return
IRAS considers a company's tax obligations settled only when Form C-S, C-S (Lite) or Form C has been filed for every YA up to the cessation date. If that date falls in a YA whose return is not yet open on myTax Portal — returns normally open each May — you use the Apply for Waiver/ File last Form C-S/ C (Dormant/ Striking Off) digital service to unlock the advance-YA return, and you then have 21 days to file it. Since 1 August 2026 IRAS accepts financial statements and tax computations only through its digital services, so the final accounts must be prepared to filing standard, not just closed off in Xero. One small mercy: if you have filed the final Form C-S for a YA, you do not also need to file ECI for it.
Settle every assessment — and collect refunds before you touch the bank account
Settled means no open queries, all assessments finalised, and all tax and penalties paid. Check it yourself on myTax Portal: filing status, notices, and the account summary for both corporate tax and GST. Two things owners get wrong here. IRAS does not issue a tax clearance letter for strike-off, whatever older guides say — your evidence is the latest Notice of Assessment and Statement of Accounts. And do not close the company's bank account while a refund is pending: IRAS cannot pay a tax credit to a director or shareholder, so once the company is dissolved the credit goes to the Insolvency Office, and shareholders claim it back from there for a processing fee.
Empty the balance sheet and tidy the register
Dispose of remaining assets, settle every creditor including shareholder and director loans, discharge any registered charge, and resolve any court summons. Then update the registered office address and the company email on Bizfile — ACRA sends the striking-off letters to the registered office and to the officers' residential addresses, and if they bounce the strike-off can fail and the company returns to Live.
Apply on Bizfile
Log in via Corppass, choose Deregister, then Local company, then Apply to strike off business entity. Confirm the criteria, enter the reason and the cessation date. The fee is nil and there are no documents to attach. If a director or the secretary files, the other directors must endorse the application through their Bizfile notifications within 14 days or it lapses; if a corporate service provider files on your behalf, no endorsements are needed, but the provider must already hold the majority of directors' consent.
Wait out the gazette
Once ACRA approves the application, the process takes at least three months. Officers have 30 days from the striking-off letter to object; the First Gazette Notification is published within 30 days of approval; a 60-day waiting period follows in which any interested party can object; then the Final Gazette Notification removes the company. If an objection is accepted, ACRA tells you who objected and why, and the company has two months to resolve it — otherwise the application lapses and you may only reapply once the objection is cleared. You can withdraw at any time, free, and the company simply stays live.
AFTER DISSOLUTION
Three obligations outlive the company.
Keep the records for five years
The books and papers must be kept for at least five years from the dissolution date, and that duty sits personally on anyone who was a director, secretary or executive officer immediately before the company was dissolved.
Download IRAS notices before you apply
Access to the company's myTax Portal ends on strike-off. Save the Notices of Assessment, Statements of Accounts and any other IRAS correspondence while you still can — you cannot retrieve them afterwards.
It can be restored for six years
A struck-off company can be restored within six years by obtaining a Court Order and filing it on Bizfile, after which it returns to Live. That is what happens when a forgotten asset or an unpaid creditor surfaces later.
Why applications fail, and how to run it cleanly.
Almost every failed strike-off we see has the same shape: the owner applied to ACRA first, because it was free and instant, and discovered the tax position afterwards. A late GST cancellation, an unfiled final Form C-S because the YA was not yet open, or a refund stuck in an account that had already been closed. ACRA’s own FAQ even says you may apply with annual returns outstanding, as long as the criteria are met and there are no court summons — which sounds generous until the strike-off fails, the company is live again, and those returns are now late with the S$300 and S$600 penalties attached.
The clean version is boring: cancel GST, close the books to the cessation date, file the last return, wait for the assessments, take the refund, then apply. That is the sequence we run — the final accounts, the last Form C-S, the GST cancellation and F8, and the Bizfile application and endorsements — handled end to end for a fixed fee, with the dormant route offered first where the company is worth keeping.
Common questions.
How long does it take to strike off a company in Singapore?
At least three months after ACRA approves the application: up to 30 days for officer objections, the First Gazette within 30 days of approval, a 60-day waiting period, then the Final Gazette. Add the time it takes to close the books, file the final tax return and have IRAS finalise the assessment before you apply.
How much does it cost to strike off a company?
ACRA charges nothing for the application or for a withdrawal. The real costs are professional: preparing the final accounts to the cessation date, the last Form C-S or Form C, GST cancellation and the F8, and the corporate secretary's time on Bizfile.
Do I need a tax clearance letter from IRAS before applying?
No. IRAS does not issue tax clearance letters for strike-off. Your evidence that tax is settled is the latest Notice of Assessment and Statement of Accounts, both downloadable from myTax Portal before the company is struck off.
What happens if IRAS objects to my strike-off?
ACRA notifies you of the objection. You have two months from the objection date to resolve the outstanding tax matter — usually an unfiled return or an unpaid assessment. If it is not resolved in time, the application lapses and you must apply to ACRA again once IRAS has cleared the objection.
Should I close the company's bank account first?
No. Keep it open until every tax matter is settled and any refund has been received. IRAS cannot pay a tax credit to a third party such as a director; after dissolution the credit is transferred to the Insolvency Office, and shareholders must claim it there and pay a processing fee.
Can I strike off a company that still has debts?
Not by strike-off — the company must owe nothing. A company with debts it cannot pay is wound up instead, through a liquidator. Micro and small companies, with revenue under S$1 million and S$10 million respectively, can use the Simplified Winding Up Programme.
Can a struck-off company be restored?
Yes, within six years, by obtaining a Court Order and filing it on Bizfile. The company returns to Live once ACRA processes it — which is why the five-year record-keeping duty on former officers matters.
Official sources
Criteria, fees, timelines and filing rules are as published by ACRA and IRAS, checked on 3 September 2026.
This guide provides general information, not legal, tax or insolvency advice. Whether a company qualifies for strike-off depends on its debts, assets, tax position and pending matters, and on ACRA’s and IRAS’s current guidance, which changes from time to time.
WRITTEN BY
Jacqueline May
Principal Accountant · Chartered Accountant (Singapore), ISCA member
Jacqueline is a Chartered Accountant (Singapore) and ISCA member, and the Principal Accountant at Synergy Accounting, a Singapore practice established in 2013. She works on corporate tax, GST and ACRA compliance for small and medium businesses — the filings, deadlines and judgement calls most owners would rather hand over. These guides are written from what she sees in practice.