Activation of Customs Account

Activation of Customs Account

If you are starting an import/export Business in Singapore, there are few things you need to do before you kick-start the company registration. First and foremost, you will need to make sure it is already registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore (ACRA), be it as a sole proprietorship, or partnership, or a private limited company.

After you have your Company Incorporation properly completed with ACRA, you will then need to activate your Custom Accounts with ACRA assigned Unique Entity Number (UEN) and Singpass.

Chai Chung Hoong, Account Manager of AI Accountant will assist you in Activation of Customs Account.

Activation of Customs Account

What is the Eligibility Criteria to Activate the Customs Account?

All business/entities registered with their relevant Issuance Agency (i.e. Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and Registrar of Societies (ROS)) with a valid Unique Entity Number (UEN) are eligible to activate their Customs Account.

However, individuals or entities without a UEN cannot operate as traders and are not eligible to activate their customs account.

What is required for the Activation of Customs Account?

As mentioned above, a UEN (the standard identification number of an entity) and a Sing Pass (Singapore Personal Access, the common password to transact with the Government online) are the must-have criteria in the activation procedures.

  • For businesses and companies, the UEN is the business registration number assigned by the ACRA.
  • For other entities, one must obtain a UEN from the Issuance Agency one is registered with. For example, a society registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) will need to obtain UEN from ROS.
Activation of Customs Account
Activation of Customs Account

Please note that for anyone logging with the Sing Pass for the first time, he or she must be:

  • Key personnel of the entity based on the Issuance Agency’s records, or
  • An authorized person stated in Singapore Customs’ records.

What is the Activation Fees?

The activation is FREE.

The Activated Customs Account is valid for as long as the registration with the Issuance Agency remains valid. In other words, the activated account is valid for as long as the company exists.

Activation of Customs Account

How to Activate a Customs Account?

  • For Newly Registered Business Entities
  • You may activate your entity’s Customs Account from the same ACRA portal once your business has been successfully registered with ACRA.

  • For Existing Business Entities or Non-Business Entities
    • The Key Personnel can check the status of your entity’s Customs Account by logging in to your entity’s Customs Account using his or her CorpPass or SingPass.
    • If the entity’s Customs Account is not activated or terminated, the status of Customs Activation will be indicated as ‘Not Active’ and ‘Terminated’ respectively.
    • If your entity’s Customs Account is activated, the status of Customs Activation will be indicated as ‘Approved’.
  • The account activation process takes up 1-2 working days after submission of the application and the applicant will be issued a Customs Registration number (CR number).
  • Once activated, the Primary Contact will receive the notification via of the Customs Account approval letter a fax or an email.
  • The company can use the activated account on the next day for applying for import, export, and transhipment permits/certificates through Trade Net.
Activation of Customs Account

How to Update Particulars and Printing of Approval Letter?

Any updates of the change in your entity’s Customs Account have to be done within 7 days of the effective date of change. These include changes in :

  • Ownership
  • Address
  • Contact details of primary contact, secondary contact and recipient of trader notification
  • Authorised personnel
  • Termination of business

In the case of changes of your entity’s UEN, the Key Personnel or Authorised Personnel have to log in to your entity’s Customs Account (using his/her CorpPass or SingPass) to terminate your existing entity’s Customs Account and activate another new entity’s Customs Account.

AI Accountant - Chai Chung Hoong
Chai Chung Hoong, Account Manager

Chai Chung Hoong will assist you in all accounting related services, and help your company in digital transformation.

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