When registering a business pays off, what it costs to run, and how Learn Now handles the paperwork.
On tax alone
A company is rarely cheaper
Running one properly costs from S$265 a month. At most tutoring incomes that is more than the tax it saves — the calculator below shows your number.
What a company is for
A payslip, CPF, paid leave, and a wall around your savings
Tutors incorporate for these four things. If none of them matters to you yet, stay freelance — or register a sole proprietorship for a business name at the same tax.
What a company changes for you
For young families
Borrow like an employee
Banks discount a freelancer’s income and often want two years of it. A director’s payslip with CPF history counts in full from month one — the difference between qualifying for the flat, the renovation loan or the car, and being told to come back later.
For your future
CPF that builds itself
Freelancers must only top up MediSave. On a salary, employer and employee contributions land every month: the Ordinary Account pays the mortgage, the Special Account compounds for retirement, MediSave covers the hospital. Automatic, every month, without willpower.
When a baby comes
Paid leave through payroll
As your company’s employee, maternity leave (16 weeks), paternity leave (4 weeks) and childcare leave are paid through the company and reimbursed by the Government. Your salary and CPF continue; no proof-of-lost-income claims.
For what you have built
Keep more, and keep it safe
The company, not you, carries the business risk — your home and savings are behind a wall a sole proprietor does not have. And what the company earns is taxed at 17% with start-up exemptions, which matters once you are drawing a salary and keeping the rest inside it.
All figures on this page are estimates — IRAS rates as at 7 September 2026, before personal reliefs, government rebates, salary and CPF. Rates change each Budget; check with a tax professional before deciding.
New Pte Ltd with the Start-Up Tax Exemption. Last column adds the YA 2026 corporate income tax rebate (50%, capped at S$40,000) — a one-year measure announced in each year’s Budget, not a standing relief.
Annual income
Freelance tax (est.)
Pte Ltd tax (est.)
Pte Ltd saves (est.)
…with the YA 2026 rebate
S$60,000
S$1,950
S$2,550
−S$600
+S$675
S$100,000
S$5,650
S$4,250
+S$1,400
+S$3,525
S$150,000
S$12,450
S$8,500
+S$3,950
+S$8,200
S$200,000
S$21,150
S$12,750
+S$8,400
+S$14,775
S$250,000
S$30,700
S$21,250
+S$9,450
+S$20,075
Minus = freelance cheaper. Tax only: the cost of running the company is not yet subtracted here. The Learn Now Business Desk plan is S$265–S$505 a month across these incomes — the calculator subtracts it. The start-up exemption lasts three years; the calculator can show year 4 onward.
Know your numbers(estimates)
Annual income from tutoring, before tax. Same simplifications as the note: no reliefs, no salary, no CPF. Rates and exemptions checked against IRAS on 7 September 2026.
S$120,000
Freelance — estimated personal income tax
S$7,950
Pte Ltd — after Start-Up Tax Exemption (S$85,000 exempt)
S$5,950
S$5,950
Estimated tax difference in favour of the Pte Ltd
S$2,000
Less the cost of running the company — Learn Now Business Desk plan at this revenue: S$325 a month, covering the secretary, filings, accounts, tax return and bookkeeping
S$3,900 / yr
Estimated net position after running costs
−S$1,900
On tax alone, the company costs more to run than it saves at this income. If you incorporate, it is for the other reasons on this page — a salary record for a loan, CPF, paid leave, limited liability — not for tax. A sole proprietorship gives you a business name at the same tax as freelance. In practice most owners pay themselves a salary, which moves part of the income back to personal rates, and as an individual you keep personal reliefs and any government rebates aimed at individuals — none of which are counted here. Treat the company figure as the best case, not the expected one, and check current rates with a tax professional before deciding.
Registration and incorporation as one payment; running a company as a monthly plan that covers every filing in the year. Delivered with an ACRA-registered filing agent.
Silver
Sole proprietorship
S$260 one payment
All documents handled, and the first year’s ACRA fee included Business name, invoices, bank account Earnings breakdown and IRAS-shaped export for your own Form B +S$60 to register for three years instead of one
Gold
Private limited company
S$460 to incorporate · from S$265/month to run
Incorporation: all documents handled, ACRA’s fee included Monthly plan: corporate secretary · AGM documents and annual return · unaudited financial statements · Form C-S · ACRA annual filing · bookkeeping Earnings breakdown and export
Gold monthly plan, by your company’s monthly revenue
Monthly revenue
Per month
Per year
up to S$8,000
S$265
S$3,180
S$8,001 – S$12,000
S$325
S$3,900
S$12,001 – S$16,000
S$385
S$4,620
S$16,001 – S$20,000
S$445
S$5,340
S$20,001 – S$25,000
S$505
S$6,060
above S$25,000
+20% for each further S$5,000 of monthly revenue
Strike off — voluntary close-down, prepared and filed: S$550 · A resolution, prepared and submitted: S$60 · Re-activation after the plan lapsed for non-payment: S$500. Anything not listed: info@learnnow.com.sg.
Which one
If you…
Then
Teach on your own and none of the four benefits matters to you yet
Stay freelance. Nothing to register.
Want a business name, invoices and a business bank account
Silver. Same tax as freelance; low cost.
Want to hire, take in a partner as a shareholder, build CPF through a salary, show a bank a payslip, or keep business risk away from your home
Salary with CPF (retirement, housing, MediSave); a payslip banks accept for a home or property loan; can hire and take in partners
The tax tables behind the numbers
Personal (resident rates, from YA 2024)
Chargeable income
Rate
First S$20,000
0%
Next S$10,000
2%
Next S$10,000
3.5%
Next S$40,000 (to S$80k)
7%
Next S$40,000 (to S$120k)
11.5%
Next S$40,000 (to S$160k)
15%
Next S$40,000 (to S$200k)
18%
Next S$40,000 (to S$240k)
19%
Next S$40,000 (to S$280k)
19.5%
Next S$40,000 (to S$320k)
20%
Next S$180,000 (to S$500k)
22%
Next S$500,000 (to S$1m)
23%
Above S$1,000,000
24%
Company (17%)
Start-Up Tax Exemption, first three years of a qualifying new company:
Income
Exempt
First S$100,000
75%
Next S$100,000
50%
Partial Tax Exemption, every year after that:
Income
Exempt
First S$10,000
75%
Next S$190,000
50%
YA 2026 rebate: 50% of tax payable, total benefit capped at S$40,000. Source: IRAS, 7 September 2026.
Questions tutors ask
Start as a sole proprietorship, incorporate later? Yes; many do. We handle both ends.
Two of us — a partnership? We don’t offer one. In a partnership each partner is personally liable for the other’s debts and decisions. Two tutors who want to work together should incorporate and hold shares — same result, with limited liability.
How long? Sole proprietorship: usually same day. Pte Ltd: one to two working days. Banks take longer than ACRA.
CPF and MediSave? Self-employed people must contribute to MediSave on net trade income. A company paying you a salary makes employer and employee CPF contributions instead. Neither is in the figures above.
GST? Only above S$1 million taxable turnover a year. Almost no individual tutor.
Office address? A home address is normally fine; HDB flats need Home Office Scheme approval, a quick online application.
What changes on Learn Now? Payouts can go to the business account; your business name can appear on your profile and invoices. Matching, ranking and reviews are untouched.
Existing families? They come in under the onboarding fee, not a trial.
Business Desk is for Learn Now tutors
Sign in, or create a tutor account first — the enquiry is tied to your account, and once your package is paid your platform fee drops to 4% automatically.
Estimates, not advice. Simplified illustrations using IRAS rates as at 7 September 2026, before reliefs, salary, CPF and other adjustments. Not tax, legal or financial advice. Packages are sold by Learn Now (Beacon Lab Pte. Ltd.) and delivered with an ACRA-registered filing agent; price and inclusions are confirmed before anything opens. Government fees are ACRA’s and may change.
