Moving from the UK to Singapore
Singapore has no personal HNW regime to apply for. The NOR scheme was discontinued after 2020 and nothing replaced it. What you get instead is a low progressive ladder and the complete absence of capital gains, wealth and inheritance tax.
The rate ladder is long and shallow
The top rate is 24% above SGD 1,000,000, reached through thirteen bands starting at 0% up to SGD 20,000.
A comparison with the UK must use consistent currency, income categories and household assumptions. The earlier effective-rate comparison is withheld pending a reproducible method.
What is absent matters more than the rate
No capital gains tax, no wealth tax, and no inheritance tax since estate duty was abolished in 2008. Against UK CGT at 18% and 24% and IHT at 40%, the absence is worth more than the income tax differential for most UHNW balance sheets.
Foreign work-pass holders make no CPF contribution; the 20% employee rate applies only to citizens and permanent residents. The 2026 CPF annual wage ceiling is SGD 102,000.
Getting in
The Global Investor Programme requires SGD 10M into a business plus 30 hires, SGD 25M into an approved fund, or a family office with at least SGD 200M AUM. Tax residency is 183 days.
Before you move
- Singapore is territorial in character but it is not zero-tax — resident employment income is fully taxed.
- The UK IHT 10-of-20-years residence test follows you regardless of Singapore's own position on estates.
- Any adviser marketing the NOR scheme is working from pre-2021 material.
Continue your research
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Tax rates are only the first screen. Residency, ownership, treaty position and succession can change the outcome.
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