Starting A Business

Step 1

Time to open a business: 34-35 days
Apply for registration and reserve a company name: 3 days
Cost: SDG 280
Agency: Commercial Registrar Agency
To apply for registration, the entrepreneur must submit an informal draft copy of the company memorandum and articles of association including the company objectives, nominal capital, capital distribution, and the names of founding shareholders whether natural or legal personalities, to the Companies Registrar for preliminary approval. This is accompanied by a request containing the required legal stamps and name reservation form proposing potential company names subject to availability. The preliminary approval to proceed with the company registration is usually issued by the Companies Registrar within 2-3 days, along with additional rules and guidelines to be incorporated within the provided Articles and Memorandum of Association before submission in its final form. The Companies Registrar may reject granting the preliminary approval if a similar or identical company name already exists.

Step 2

Notarize the memorandum and articles of association
Agency: Notary
Time: 2 days
Cost: SDG 500
Three copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, along with FormsC2 and C2a, must be completed according to the rules contained under the preliminary approval. These forms must be signed by all founding shareholders and authenticated by a designated lawyer with authentication authority.

Step 3

Notify the taxation chambers: Taxation chambers
Agency: Taxation
Time: 1 day
Cost: 0.2% of start up capital
Before applying for final approval and registration, the company must submit a preliminary approval request to the Taxation Chamber, along with the memorandum and articles of association duly stamped by the Chamber in acknowledgement of the notification, and Forms C2 and C2a. These documents shall then be submitted to the Zakat Chamber for its approval.

Step 4″

Register with the commercial registry
Agency: Commercial Registry
Time: 4 days
Cost: SDG 1050
Stamps must be affixed to the Articles and Memorandum of Association. The company documents, including Forms C2 and C2a and a copy of the lease agreement or property certificate of the company premises, must be submitted to the Commercial Registrar to finalize the company registration.

Step 5

Apply for a tax identification number (TIN)
Agency: Taxation Chambers
Time: 1 day on average
Cost: SDG 5
The following documents are required to apply for a tax identification number:- Shareholder information- Memorandum and articles of association (notarized)- Certificate of incorporation (two copies)- Completed registration forms- Company resolution delegating a person to act on the company’s behalf

Step 6

Register for VAT
Agency: Taxation chambers
Time: 2 days
Cost: no charge
The company registers for VAT at a separate department within the same building. It is not mandatory to register for VAT at the same time.

Step 7

Register with the labor authorities
Agency: Labor authorities
Time: 14 days
Cost: SDG 192
The company must deposit the basic work and penalties regulations with the competent labor office.
Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure.

Step 8

Enroll employees in social security
Agency: Social Insurance Fund
Time: 5 days on average
Cost: SDG 25
The company must subscribe to the Social Insurance Fund. The required documents for this procedure are:- Copy of Company Certificate of Incorporation and Memorandum and Articles of Association- Completed registration form Simultaneously, the company registers its employees for social insurance. The social insurance registration procedure is free of charge, and requires the submission of the following documents:- List of the employees’ names and salaries- Completed registration form.

Step 9

Make a company seal
Agency: Sudan Currency Printing Press Co.
Time: 2 days
Cost: SDG 1450
New companies are obliged to use a company seal obtained only from the Sudan Currency Printing Press Co., a government company.