Business Procedures in Rwanda

Starting a business

The Office of the Registrar General has the responsibility to initiate, implement and follow up the activities relating to registering and striking from the register: businesses, secured transactions and intellectual property rights.

The business registration service combines all registration requirements under one roof: with one application you register your business and obtain a company code that also serves as tax identification number (TIN) by Rwanda Revenue Authority and social security number by Rwanda Social Security Board.

There is no minimum share capital required for company incorporation in Rwanda.

Domestic company

A domestic company is a company incorporated in Rwanda. It may take the form of: company limited by shares, company limited by guarantee, company limited by both shares and guarantee or unlimited company. The four types of domestic company follow the same online registration procedure (although requirements may vary).

The company code on the incorporation certificate also serves as tax identification number (TIN) and social security number.

Companies do not have to register for VAT while their turnover is still not exceeding Rwf 20 million for any period of 12 month or Rwf 5 million in 3 consecutive months in the preceding quarter. Once one of these two thresholds is exceeded, registration must be done within the next 7 days from the end of that year or quarter.

Small and medium enterprises, those that fulfil at least two of the three following conditions: net capital investment up to Rwf 70 million, annual turnover up to Rwf 50 million, and up to 100 employees; are exempted from trading licence tax during the first 2 years following their establishment. They will only have to register at District level after the exemption period expires and begin paying trading licence tax latest by January 31st, annually starting from the 3rd year following the incorporation date.

The company code on the incorporation certificate also serves as tax identification number (TIN) and social security number. Companies are required to register for VAT if their turnover is above Rwf 20 million for any period of 12 month or Rwf 5 million in 3 consecutive months in the preceding quarter.
Small and medium enterprises, those that fulfil at least two of the three following conditions: net capital investment up to Rwf 70 million, annual turnover up to Rwf 50 million, and up to 100 employees; are exempted from trading licence tax during the first 2 years following their establishment. They will only have to register at District level after the exemption period expires and begin paying trading licence tax latest by January 31st, annually starting from the 3rd year following the incorporation date.

Large companies, those that fulfil at least two of the three following conditions: net capital investment above Rwf 70 million, annual turnover above Rwf 50 million, and above 100 employees; must register at sector level at the earliest in order to pay for trading licence tax no later than January 31st each year.

Foreign company

A foreign company is a company which is registered in a foreign country and which is carrying on business in Rwanda by:

Establishing a share transfer office or a share registration office in Rwanda
Administering, managing or dealing with property in Rwanda as an agent, personal representative or trustee, whether through its employees or an agent or in any other manner.

The company code on the incorporation certificate also serves as tax identification number (TIN) and social security number.

A foreign company is a company which is registered in a foreign country and which is carrying on business in Rwanda by:

Establishing a share transfer office or a share registration office in Rwanda
Administering, managing or dealing with property in Rwanda as an agent, personal representative or trustee, whether through its employees or an agent or in any other manner.

A foreign company is a company which is registered in a foreign country and which is carrying on business in Rwanda by:

Establishing a share transfer office or a share registration office in Rwanda
Administering, managing or dealing with property in Rwanda as an agent, personal representative or trustee, whether through its employees or an agent or in any other manner.

Enterprise (individual trader)

Enterprise (or Individual trader) is the simplest way to start and conduct business in Rwanda. It is also the easiest business type to maintain. Enterprise (or Individual trader) refer to a "business whose income is less than ten thousand Rwandan francs (10.000 Rwf) per day", threshold beyond which the individual trader must register a company..

Starting a business in Rwanda		Gutangiza sosiyete y’ubucuruzi mu Rwanda