Haiti is a country in the Caribbean Sea. It is on the island of Hispaniola. The first Europeans came in 1492, on Christopher Columbus’s first trip. At first, he thought he had found India or China. After that, it was ruled by Spain and France. Today, French is the official language and the Haitian gourde is the money (HTG). The capital city is Port-au-Prince. The country’s economy is mostly based on agriculture, but mining, manufacturing, and tourism are also important. Local and international business owners who want to start a business have several options.
.The following companies can be registered in Haiti:
- Sole proprietorship.
- Limited liability.
- Limited partnership corporation.
- A branch of an overseas company.
The steps to follow for the Corporation (Société Anonyme) and the subsidiary will be explained below. It costs very little and takes about six (6) weeks to incorporate a business in Haiti.
Procedures for incorporating
The most common type of business structure in Haiti is the “Société Anonyme”, which is like a corporation. It protects its shareholders from personal liability. To make a company official, you need to do the following things. Once the Company is in “Le Moniteur”, the official bulletin, the Company’s representative takes care of the administrative tasks. Meeting the Haitian Tax Authorities’ needs (Direction Générale des Impôts):
- Presentation of the opening balance sheet.
- Getting a tax identification number.
- Paying tax on shares issued.
- Getting an operating license (Patente).
- Letting the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor know about plans to hire people.
Fill out the application form
Go to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and fill out the form. For the request to be sent, you must:
- Pay a tax to the Direction Générale des Impôts (DGI).
- Buy a stamp.
- Get two vignettes from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- Pay the registration fee to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
- Send the form to the Internal Trade Department once it is filled out (at MCI).
Copy of registration receipt
Give the General Directorate of the investment facilitation center a copy of the registration receipt.
Extra documents
Ask for more documents (depending on the type of business):
- For currency exchange, a license from the Bank of the Republic of Haiti.
- For a “transfer house”, you need permission from the Ministry of the Economy and Finance.
- For shipping agents, they need permission from the National Port Authority.
- Customs commissioners need permission from the General Customs Administration.
- For courier service, the Haitian Post Office must give permission.
If everything is in order, you should get your professional identity card (CIP) in a few days. Now that your business is ready to go, you can start running it, but you also need to register it with the tax office.
Within 15 days of opening, sign up with (OFATMA) for workers’ health and accident insurance. Register with the Retirement Insurance Office (ONA) within 15 days of the official opening. A subsidiary can also be set up in Haiti by an outside investor. The subsidiary should be registered with the Registry of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and with all of Haiti’s relevant fiscal and social authorities. For a subsidiary to be made, you have to hire a lawyer to take care of all the steps for registering the company. The steps for making a subsidiary in Haiti are summed up in the table below. Once published in “Le Moniteur”, the same rules that apply to a corporation also apply to a subsidiary.
Registration of the modification
If the company limited agrees to change any registered transactions, they must register the change or cancellation at the Department of Business Development. They can also register at the Office of Business Development District 1-6 or the Office of Commercial Affairs (if the company’s head office is somewhere else).
