Nicaragua

Starting a Business in

Nicaragua

Listed below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome in order to incorporate and register a new firm, along with their associated time and set-up costs.  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 (GNI).

The information appearing on this page 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 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Sociedad Anónima (S.A.) - Corporation
  • City: Managua

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Sign the incorporation papers before a notary public

The documents of incorporation and the company bylaws must be drafted by a notary public. It is customary to include the company bylaws in the document of incorporation. Most notaries will also perform the remaining steps (explained in the following steps) in the incorporation process, for a fee of USD 200 (average). The notary cost is USD 750–1,000.
3 days USD 875
2 Buy company accounting books and corporate books

All companies must keep four corporate books: two accounting books (diary and ledger) and two corporate books (minutes book and shares book). The cost of the books may vary from one bookstore to another.
1 day NIO 800
3 File incorporation statutes (Acta Constitutiva) with the Commercial Registry (Registro Comercial) at the one-stop shop (Ventanilla Unica)

In January 2004, the government created in the Ministry of Commerce (Ministerio de Fomento, Industria y Comercio) a one-stop shop, the Unique Office for Investment (Ventanilla Unica de Inversiones), in which companies can file commercial and tax registrations. The one-stop shop cannot process any registrations but forwards the documentation daily to the relevant agencies. The one-stop shop provides information on four procedures and rationalizes them: (a) company registration; (b) tax registration at the Dirección General de Ingresos (DGI); (c) municipal registration; and (d) for foreign companies, the Foreign Secretary (Secretario Exterior).

The cost for commercial registration is 1% of capital (with a minimum of NIO 1,000, maximum of NIO 30,000) and the following fees:
- Inscription of constitution of internal books: NIO 100.
- Registration fee for books (diario, mayor, actas y acciones) NIO 350.00.
- Application (inscripcion como comerciante): NIO 350.
- Form for municipal license (matricula): NIO 5.
- Municipal license: for social capital lower than NIO 50,000 is NIO 500; higher than NIO 50,000 is 1% of capital.
- Municipal license document (constancia de matricula): 1% of license fee.

The payment must be made in any bank, and the payment receipt must be presented at the one-stop shop. Regardless whether the company has income, it must declare before the Nicaraguan Tax Authority (Dirección General de Ingresos) each month. If the company has no sales, it will not pay any taxes. However, it will have to pay the fees for the services performed by their representative in Nicaragua before the DGI.
2 weeks included in procedure 4
* 4 Pay the inscription fees

Fees must be paid into any bank and the receipt presented to the one-stop shop (see Procedure 5). There is a commercial bank within the Commercial Registry where the payment can be made.
1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure) 1% of capital (Commercial Registration) within a minimum of NIO 1,000 and a maximum of NIO 30,000 + NIO 100 (inscription of internal books)
5 Register accounting books (sellado de libros) and register as a trader (inscripcion como comerciante) with the Commerical Registry at the one-stop shop (Ventanilla Unica)


16 days NIO 350 (registration of accounting books) + NIO 300 (application as a trader)
6 Register for general sales tax (Impuesto al Valor Agregado, IVA) and register company books at the local tax authority (Administración de Renta);

Companies with an annual income higher than NIO 240,000 will be levied general sales tax (impuesto al valor agregado, IVA). The accounting books must be registered at the local office of the Tax Collector’s Office (Administración de Rentas). Then, the company obtains a unique tax identification number (RUC, Registro Unico del Contribuyente).
2 days no charge
7 Obtain a municipal licence (matrícula)

The entrepreneur must go to the Municipality to request and obtain the licence (matricula). The municipal licence is issued on the same day and the fees can be paid at the municipality.
1 day 1% of capital (municipal license fee) + 1% of municipal license fee (municipal license document)+ NIO 5 (form for municipal license)
8 Register for social security and public health with Instituto Nicaragüense de Seguridad Social (INSS)


2 days no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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