Hong Kong versus Singapore: A tale of two tax systems

FOR many years, Singapore and Hong Kong have been competing to see which city has the most competitive tax regime, attracting global companies to set up entities in their territories.

Both cities lead the pack in Asia, and arguably the rest of the world, in offering a holistic and conducive tax-friendly environment for businesses to grow and flourish. Their corporate tax rates, and more importantly their effective tax rates, are extremely low by international standards.

Tax is, of course, not the only factor impacting a firm's choice of location - other considerations include the ease of setting up companies and…