Case Study: Optimising Tax Efficiency in Profits Repatriation

Case Study Optimising Tax Efficiency in Profits Repatriation

Case Study: Optimising Tax Efficiency in Profits Repatriation

Client Profile

BoardRoom’s client, a multinational conglomerate with a diverse portfolio, operates through subsidiaries in various jurisdictions, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. As part of its corporate strategy, the client is exploring tax-efficient options for repatriating profits via dividends and royalties from its operating subsidiaries.

Specifically, the client is evaluating two jurisdictions—Singapore (SINGCO) and Hong Kong (HKCO)—for establishing the Investment Holding Company and the Intellectual Property (IP) ownership in order to maximize tax efficiency in profit repatriation.

BoardRoom Group’s 2-Step Tax Approach

In assisting the client to achieve its tax-efficiency objectives, BoardRoom adopted a two-step approach:

The first step involved the assessment of the tax regimes of Singapore (SINGCO) and Hong Kong (HKCO) to determine the tax-optimal location for establishing the Investment Holding Company and IP ownership.

Key considerations included corporate tax rates, availability of tax incentives and exemptions, application of tax treaties, as well as economic substance requirements.

In the second step, BoardRoom evaluated the corporate income tax implications of repatriating profits via dividends and royalties from the operating subsidiaries to SINGCO and HKCO. The assessment focused on domestic and treaty withholding tax rates, tax exemptions and the overall tax burden associated with each jurisdiction.

About BoardRoom

850
Dedicated Team Members

BoardRoom offers leading business solutions, including corporate and advisory services, in the Asia-Pacific region. We provide accurate, prompt and reliable corporate solutions for every element of your business.

Over 50
Year Proven Track Record

BoardRoom takes your business further, faster, at all stages, with an integrated suite of corporate solutions driven by innovation and technology.

7,300+
Clients Globally

Our team of experienced professionals has the comprehensive local knowledge and commercial experience you need to grow your business in the Asia-Pacific region.

Recommendation: Overall Consideration of Tax and Non-Tax Factors

Based on BoardRoom’s tax assessment, recommendations were given to the client on a tax-optimal location for establishing the Investment Holding Company and IP ownership, as well asthe tax-optimal strategy for repatriating profits. BoardRoom’s assessment has considered both Singapore (SINGCO) and Hong Kong (HKCO) from various tax angles, including corporate tax rates, tax incentives, treaty benefits and the overall tax burden associated with profit repatriation.

The final decision also considered non-tax factors such as the client’s strategic business requirements and specific operational priorities, as well as the business ecosystem, regulatory environment and geopolitical stability in Singapore versus Hong Kong.

By incorporating both tax and non-tax factors into its decision-making process, the client can confidently move forward with its tax-efficient repatriation strategy, while ensuring compliance and minimizing tax risks.

Related Business Insights

BoardRoom People Expertise: Payroll Client Story

Payroll Expertise

BoardRoom People Expertise: Payroll Client Story

Client Profile

The Client is a multinational company that owns some of the world’s most iconic beverage brands that are enjoyed globally.

The Asia-Pacific branches make up almost one-fifth of their operations, where BoardRoom is currently the payroll outsourcing provider for 10 countries – Singapore, Australia, Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar. In total, we are responsible for 100% of their APAC workforce, which totals 1687 employees.

Payroll Challenges

One of the challenges MNCs face when expanding or maintaining payroll operations within Asia-Pacific is the lack of understanding between subtle nuances across labour governance frameworks in the region.

About BoardRoom

17
Countries

We provide Payroll Outsourcing services across 17 countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Hong Kong & Mainland China

24,000
employees

We take care of the payrolls of almost 24,000 employees across Asia Pacific

100%
first-time accuracy

100% first-time accuracy for payroll processing

01 Ensuring Compliance to Latest Payroll Regulations

With its diverse cultural landscape, Asia-Pacific is well-known for its intricate payroll needs that often require specialised knowledge. Payroll regulations change frequently, which can prove challenging for HR teams to keep track of, especially if they’re unfamiliar with the country’s labour laws. This lack of knowledge can negatively impact companies through payroll fines and dissatisfied employees that experience payroll miscalculations.

This is especially challenging for larger companies due to their diverse employee payroll profile which requires an in-depth knowledge of the different payroll calculations and deductions for each employee. As a result, some HR teams in MNCs can struggle to ensure payroll compliance while also performing administratively heavy tasks such as checking and dispersing wages.

02 Impact on Productivity

When operating across multiple countries, payroll processing can often be done in siloes by individual payroll teams resulting in a lack of standardization across processes and workflow. Moreover, as companies expand into new markets, it can be challenging for the HR management to maintain oversight with every country and or states unique legal and social landscape. This can reduce productivity of HR teams as more effort is required to check errors and ensure accuracy.

Companies with rapid expansion plans might find it hard to build their HR administrative operations within the quick timeframe required to meet growth ambitions. The Client recognised this fact and identified the need for an experienced regional payroll outsourcing partner who could support their growth across Asia-Pacific.

The Solution

With the above challenges in mind, BoardRoom focused on how we could streamline their payroll operations. With our expertise in processing payroll for large multi-national companies across the Asia-pacific region, we support them as they continue to grow.

01 Ready Access to Regulatory Advice

The first step was ensuring that they could access the depth of regional knowledge and expertise that the BoardRoom team possesses. Companies spanning multiple jurisdictions require timely guidance on regulatory updates or necessary deductions, which BoardRoom provides. From advice on ad-hoc bonus payouts and the deductions required or what reliefs for payroll-related taxes that the company can qualify for, BoardRoom has the expertise to advise accordingly. In addition, our team’s experience and expertise enables us to analyse existing HR frameworks and optimize processes for the best payroll performance.

02 Standardised Framework

Next, we looked into centralizing standard payroll operations across the APAC branches, meaning they were able to shift away from siloed payroll processing. Through analysis of existing structures, BoardRoom made informed recommendations to assist in streamlining of processes. This helped boost efficiency of their regional payroll processing and provide more control and foresight for planning.

Capitalise on BoardRoom’s Asia-Pacific payroll experience today

As a global company, payroll compliance is challenging to maintain consistently across the APAC region. That’s why picking the right payroll outsourcing partner is essential to keeping your payroll processing as compliant as possible. A reliable partner like BoardRoom will be able to:

  • Guide you on specific local payroll advice across the region
  • Advise you on regulatory concerns and relevant updates
  • Help you standardize processes across the region

Are you interested in engaging our expertise to optimize your regional payroll processing? Reach out to us to discuss in greater detail how you can capitalise on our experienced regional payroll experts.

Related Business Insights