What You Need To Know To Start A Business In Honduras

Located in the middle of Central America, Honduras has a democratic government and a free market company. The country has suffered domestically but now is ready for business growth and foreign investment. A diverse array of opportunities for investors can be found in Honduras industries like textiles, agricultural productions and call centers.

Entities

In order to start a business in Honduras, you will have to choose what type of entity you would like your company to be. The most common are:

Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, a limited liability company Sociedad Anónima, Public limited company The Honduras limited liability company is the most preferred choice when setting up a business. This type of entity requires at least one director and two shareholders that do not need to be a resident of Honduras and can be any nationality.

The requirements for a public limited company are two shareholders, either individuals or legal entities and at least one director. The appointed director should not be a resident of Honduras. A statutory auditor must also be appointed for this type of entity.

After choosing the entity type, there are six steps required to start a business in Honduras.

Obtain the public deed with a notary public present who will draw up the organizational paperwork. Register in the Mercantile registry which is located at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the municipality of domicile. Obtain the National Tax Registry (Registro Tributario Nacional, RTN) at the Servicio de Administracion de Rentas (SAR), Ministry of Finance. This process can take anywhere from 23-25 business days. Apply for an Operation Permit before the municipality of domicile. This process can take 2-3 weeks to be completed. Register and obtain an import and export licence. This can take about 20 days. There are three registrations necessary for a company with employees: registering at the Social Fund for Housing (Régimen de Aportaciones Privadas RAP), registering at the Social Security Institute, (Instituto Hondureño de Seguridad Social IHSS), and registering at the Hand Labour Training Institute (Instituto Hondureño de Formación Profesional INFOP). These processes take 1-2 days each. Having a local expert to help with these requirements can remove some of the complexity surrounding these steps. It is mandatory to have a local registered attorney for tax and compliance requirements, as well as audits.

Tax rates

The Corporate Income Tax rate is 25% on...