Starting a business in Jamaica

By deshoda • Feb 17th, 2008 • Category: Business, Features

Are you interested in starting a business in Jamaica? Maybe you are just moving down there, and would like a steady income, or perhaps you are just looking to retire and set up a small shop to keep you occupied. Setting up a private LLC, or Limited Liability Company can be done fairly cheap, and as little as a week. After that, the possibilities are endless.

The entire process will cost you about 15,000 JMD (Jamaican dollars), which translates roughly to $210 USD. Filling out all the paperwork, and processing can take between eight and ten days, depending on whether or not you expedite the process. First you will need to visit the Registrar of Companies, they will tell you if your business name is available and if you are allowed to register it. All in all it will cost you about 500 JMD. They will hand you a variety of documents, which you then need to take to the Stamp Commissioner to get stamped. This costs another 500 JMD, and makes things official for your next step.

Head on back to the Registrar of Companies, and hand in your Notice of Registered Office, Notice of Appointment of Directors, and Notice of Appointment of Company Secretary. The entire registration fee comes to 10,000 JMD, and can be expedited for an additional 3,000 JMD. The hard part is done, however there are still three things that need to be done. You will need to obtain a national insurance scheme (NIS) reference number from the Ministry of Labor, Social Security, and Sports. This is free to do, and takes about 2 days to complete. Next you have to acquire your taxpayer registration number (TRN) from the Collector of Taxes. Again, this is free and takes about two days. Lastly, you have 21 days to file a general consumption tax (GCT) registration. This can be done in one day, and costs nothing.

It may seem like a lot, but the process is not as hard as it looks. After you are set up legally, you are able to run free with your business idea, and make as much money as you can. Always remember that business in Jamaica is generally more formal than it is in the states, and most parts of Europe. If you want to be taken seriously, be professional. Good luck!

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One Response to “Starting a business in Jamaica”

  1. 1
    Anthony Says:
    February 18th, 2008 at 6:54 am

    One thing I dont like about about the process and it that I have to go several place to get one thing done, why coulnt I get everything done in the same office. I guess every country got they procedure.

    The only thing I would ad to this is that, if you are importing your merchandise to Jamaica, dont buy from the USA only if it is made in the US, I state this because will be buying from the middleman and you wont have any profit to gain after paying Jamaica 50% and up to 100% custom fee.

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