Dominican Republic

Starting a Business in

Dominican Republic

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Dominican Republic. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

Compare Dominican Republic to 184 other economies.

YearNew business densityNumber of new limited liability companies
2011 0.966,071

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (SRL)
  • Paid in Minimum Capital Requirement: DOP 100,000
  • City: Santo Domingo

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check company name and purchase it on-line

With the introduction of the virtual portal : the applicant can search and pay for a fee of DOP 4,707 for its company name. Currently, the interested party may enter www.onapi.gov.do to check if the name has been registered or not. The www.creatuempresa.gob.do website is in an upgrade process and still not working as of June 01, 2011.

 1 day DOP 4747
2 Arrange for the publication of the company name in the monthly publication of the National Office of Industrial Property (Oficina Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial)

The company name announcement is published in a national circulation newspaper in about 10 days. The company name announcement is published in a national circulation newspaper only the 15 or 30 of each month. The National Office of Industrial Property publishes the list of requested business/corporate names and their petitioners twice a month. After that publication, third parties may lodge protests within 45 days. The publication receipt suffices for the company to continue with subsequent simultaneous formalities.
The publication can also be in the virtual portal of www.onapi.gov.do (oficina nacional de propiedad industrial-national office of the intelectual property)
The Decree 326-06 dated 8 August, 2006 modifies Article 66 of the Application Ruling of Law 20-00, establishing that after the petition or request of the registration of a commercial or trade name is made the National Office of Industrial Property (ONAPI) has a time limit of five (5) business days to issue the Formal Certificate. The actual value for the publication is DOP 971. After requesting the registration of the commercial name, in a term of 5 labor days, ONAPI issues its response; if the registration is accepted, immediately the Certificate of Registry is handed over, for which an amount of DOP 971 has to be paid, to cover the costs of publication. If ONAPI rejects the registration of the commercial name, a term of 60 days is given to the solicitor to answer the rejection. When the publication is paid, ONAPI, publishes the registered name, with the information of the certificate, in the official bulletins that are published every two weeks (15 and 30 of each month) in a newspaper of national circulation (currently "El Nacional").
10 days DOP 971
* 3 Payment of Incorporation tax

The relevant incorporation taxes are paid by certified check issued to the Collector of the Internal Revenue Department (Colector de Impuestos Internos), through online banking (BHD and Leon banks) or at the counter at Banco del Progreso. According to new Law of Eficiencia Recaudatoria (from April 1st 2007) , the incorporation taxes have been unifie and only one tax should be paid that accounts as 1% of the amount of the authorized capital. The incorporation tax can also be paid directly at the Internal Revenue Service offices (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos). Also, if the ammount does not exceed DOP 10,000, it can be paid in cash. This tax is also payable at the counter of Banco de Reservas.
1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure) 1% of the capital
4 Register the company in the Chamber of Commerce and obtain the identification number (RNC) on-line

The company is registered online at www.creatuempresa.gob.do. The identification (RNC) is also obtained through the same portal. However the virtual portal is currently in an upgrade process due to the new company law that brings new type of companies like the SRL and the EIRL. It is necessary to include these new companies in the portfolios of offers that the portal provide. Currently and until the portal is operational, the registration is being done physically by visiting the registry at the Chamber of Commerce and the tax number (RNC) is obtained from the tax office website.

The following documents have to be filed at the Mercantile Registry at the Chamber of Commerce:

• By-Laws properly signed and sealed with the company’s seal;
• General Constitutive Assembly with its corresponding list of presence of Associates;
• List of the distribution of each of the associates investment to the company and their corresponding amounts of corporate quotas;
• Application Form for registration of Limited Liability Company, duly completed and signed by the authorized manager or agent (must attach original power of attorney, if applicable) .
• Association Partnership Agreement
• Receipt of payment of incorporation taxes
• Photocopies of identity card
• Copy of Business Name Registration issued by the National Office of Industrial Property (ONAPI)

Within three (3) days, the Mercantile Registry Certificate will be issued. Incorporatin fees are based on the company’s authorized capital and are calculated according to the fee schedule established by each Chamber of Commerce and Production every two years. Fees do not vary significantly by location.

Fees for document registration:

• Originals: DOP 200 (each document)
• Copies: DOP 200 (each document)
• Usual cost: DOP 800 (one set of originals, copies are for free)

In this case DOP 8,000 for the incorporation and DOP 800 for the registration of the documents.
5 days DOP 8,800
5 File for the National Taxpayers Registry at the Internal Revenue Service (DGII) and apply for fiscal receipts.

According to Decree 254–06, companies that render services or whose operations require the transfer of goods must issue receipts with a fiscal number (numero de comprobante fiscal). The application can be made online. Within 5 working days, the Internal Tax Directorate must analyze the information and notify the taxpayer (either physically or electronically) of the administrative resolution of the authorization to issue the fiscal receipts.

Even in the case that the application for the National Taxpayers Registry is made online, through the Internal Revenue Service’s webpage, physical documents still need to be filed at the Internal Revenue Service. Additionally, even if the incorporation is undertaken via the virtual portal creatuempresa.gob.do, physical documents still need to be filed both at the Mercantile Registry and the Internal Revenue Service.

 2 days no charge
* 6 Register local employees with the Department of Labor

Forms DGT-3, DGT-4, and the employer’s registration form (registro nacional laboral, RNL) must be completed within the first week of employment. The following forms, found at the local Department of Labor office, must be filed: a list of permanent personnel and employee work schedules and vacation periods.

Fees for registering local employees with the Department of Labor:
The book of visits costs DOP 250, whereas the Registration of personnel Form costs DOP 300 for each 50 employees
This procedure can be completed only once the taxpayer's identification number has been obtained.
2 days (simultaneous with previous procedure) DOP 250
* 7 Register employees at the main social security office (Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Social, CNSS)

To control the contributions made by the company (the employer) and the employee, every company shall be registered and file the list of its employees at the Social Security National Treasury (Tesorería Nacional de la Seguridad Social, TNSS), a dependency of the main social security office (Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Social, CNSS). The TNSS distributes all the contributions to each plan’s corresponding administrator.

According to the Law 188-07 dated August 2007 the TNSS is under the obligation of updating the above mentioned percentages. Accordingly, the new percentages are as follows (these new provisions came into effect on August 2009 and will be effective until July 2010):
• Retirement Plan of 9.97 % of the employee's salary to the Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP) (7.10% by the employer and 2.87 % by the employee at a public or private organization)
• Health plan: Administradora de Riesgos de Salud (ARS), 10.13% of the employee’s salary as of August 1, 2009 (7.09% by the employer and 3.04% by the employee)
• Labor risk plan: Administradora de Riesgos Laborales (ARL)

Under Law 87-01, employers must register employees at the CNSS within 3 days of hiring them or upon the start of business. New ARS provisions came into effect on May 1, 2007. According to law, the contribution should be 9% of the employee´s salary. That contribution is paid 70% by the employer and 30% by the employee.
This procedure can be done online or at the Tesorería Nacional de la Seguridad Social. The ARL contributions are set according to the risk index of the activities carried out. A taxpayer's identification number is required to proceed with TSS registration of an entity. This procedure may, however, be carried out simultaneously with registration with the Department of Labor.
1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure) no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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