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Registering Your Business in Ghana: What You Need To Know
Introduction
The establishment of businesses has substantially increased in our contemporary world. Businesses do not operate in a vacuum rather they function within an environment and as such are regulated. Incorporating one’s business is one of the compliance requirements for the purposes of regulation and for identification as a legal entity – Section 12 of the Companies Act 2019 (992). Thus, registering a business in Ghana is the preliminary phase for the smooth thriving of businesses.
However, many Ghanaians and expatriates are challenged with setting up businesses in Ghana owing to the fact that they have little or no knowledge on the processes involved in registering their businesses. The processes and modalities involved in registering a company in Ghana are essential for start-ups as well as multinationals with the intent of starting a business in Ghana. Below are the various processes involved in registering a business (A Company Limited by shares) in Ghana.
Step 1: Decide on a name and conduct a Company name search at RGD
Step 2 - Attain a Tax Identification Number for all members (Shareholders, Directors, Secretaries)
Step 3 - Complete your RGD documents; Section 13 of the Companies Act 2019 (992).
Form 3 (Return of Particulars of a Company Limited by Shares)- You are required to complete this form with details of the directors, secretary, auditor of the company (name, age, nationality, occupation, postal and physical address) as well as the physical and postal registered address, contact details and the objects of the company as well. Also, you are required to complete this form with details such as the number of shares the company is registered with, who the shareholders of the company are, and the respective shareholding proportions allocated to its members. The minimum stated capital a company limited by shares may have is currently GHC 500.00.
Step 4 - Statutory Declaration and Consent of Directors as well as Secretary.
Submission of statutory declarations of all directors as well as the consent of both Auditors and Secretaries to the Registrar General’s department. Also, you are required to fill the Beneficiary ownership declaration forms.
Step 5 – Payment of Filing Fees and Stamp duty.
Incorporation, stamp duty and filing fees are the main statutory fees to be paid at the Registrar General’s Department. The Stamp duty is basically 0.5% of the stated capital. For example, a stated capital of 100,000 Ghana Cedis is equivalent to a stamp duty of 0.5% multiplied by 100,000 Cedis is equal to 500 Ghana Cedis. The minimum amount of stated capital for all 100% Ghanaian owned limited liability companies is 500 Cedis.
Step 6 – Filing at the RGD and issuing Business registration certificates; Section 14 of the Companies Act 2019 (992).
The sixth and final step of the registration process is the filing at the RGD and issuing Business registration certificates. On paying the filing fees and stamp duty, the documents are then verified and filed at the RGD. If there are no objections, in a few weeks, expect to receive your original certificate of incorporation, certified true copies of form 3 and the Constitution.