4.—(1) The following persons are not required to be registered when carrying on business in Singapore:
(a)
any individual proprietor carrying on business under only the individual proprietor’s full name;
(b)
any firm of 2 or more individuals carrying on business under only the full names of all the individuals;
(c)
subject to subsection (2), any individual or firm of 2 or more individuals carrying on any business consisting solely of the exercise of any profession that, under the provisions of any written law, can be exercised only by those who possess certain qualifications prescribed by the written law and whose names are registered or otherwise recorded in the manner prescribed by any written law;
(d)
a person (A) in respect of or for whom another person (B) carries on business wholly or mainly as nominee or trustee if B has provided the particulars required under section 7(1);
(e)
any statutory authority or other body established by or under any public Act for a public purpose;
(f)
any institution, authority, person or fund specified in the First Schedule to the Income Tax Act 1947;
(g)
any society registered under the Societies Act 1966;
(h)
any society registered under the Co‑operative Societies Act 1979;
(i)
any mutual benefit organisation registered under the Mutual Benefit Organisations Act 1960;
(j)
any trade union registered under the Trade Unions Act 1940;
(k)
the Public Trustee or the Official Assignee of the property of a bankrupt;
(l)
any foreign company carrying on business in Singapore that is registered under the Companies Act 1967 and carries on the business under its registered name;
(m)
any company carrying on business under its corporate name;
(n)
any limited liability partnership registered under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005 carrying on business under its registered name;
(o)
subject to section 42(3) of the Limited Partnerships Act 2008, any limited partnership registered under that Act;
(p)
any other person or class of persons for the time being exempted by the Minister under regulations made under section 43; and
(q)
any individual proprietor who carried on any business specified in the First Schedule to the Business Registration Act (Cap. 32, 2004 Revised Edition) immediately before 3 January 2016 and who is alive and continues to carry on the same business on and after that date.
(2) An individual or a firm of 2 or more individuals referred to in subsection (1)(c), is required to be registered when carrying on business in Singapore if regulations made under section 43 prescribe that the exemption under subsection (1)(c) does not apply to such individual or firm.
(3) A person carrying on business in Singapore who is not required to be registered under subsection (1), other than a person who is specified in any of the provisions of subsection (1)(e) to (o), may choose to be registered.
(4) A person who is not required to be registered but chooses to be registered is subject to and must comply with the provisions of this Act for the period of time that the person is so registered.
(5) In this section —
(a)
a reference to an individual or a person includes a class of individuals or a class of persons, respectively; and
(b)
a reference to an individual’s full name is —
(i)
in the case of an individual issued with an identity card under the National Registration Act 1965, a reference to the individual’s full name as stated in the individual’s identity card; and
(ii)
in the case of an individual not issued with an identity card under that Act, a reference to the individual’s full name as stated in the individual’s passport or any other similar evidence of identity that is acceptable to the Registrar.
