How to Register as a Sole Proprietor in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is located in the Caribbean region. It shares the island territory with Haiti, making it the second-largest nation by area within the Antilles. It has the most prominent economy in the Caribbean and Central American Region, being the fastest growing economy during the past twenty-five years. According to the World Bank, the annual growth rate of the Dominican Republic’s GDP averaged 4%.

The registration process of sole proprietorship in the Dominican Republic

There are two different ways in which a person can register as a sole proprietorship in the Dominican Republic: 

• An Individual Enterprise of Limited Liability (Empresa Individual de Responsabilidad Limitada, EIRL) 
• A State Provider as a Natural Person (Proveedor del Estado como Persona Física). 

It’s important to note that in order to proceed either way, all documents must be submitted in Spanish. 

The registration process for an Individual Enterprise of Limited Liability (EIRL)

Individual Enterprise of Limited Liability (EIRL) is a company that is incorporated and owned by one individual only; it is set with independent assets, separated from other assets that a person owns as a natural person.

To set up the company as EIRL, the necessary first step is to register the commercial name at the National Office of Industrial Property (Oficina Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial – ONAPI).

The second step is to register the enterprise at the local Chamber of Commerce (Cámara de Comercio). 

To register, you will need the following documents:

• Constitutive Act legalized by a notary lawyer
• Proof of the deposit of the contribution, issued by the corresponding banking entity
• Copy of the identity card and electoral card  

The registration process of the State Provider as a Natural Person

Individuals are categorized as Natural Person (Persona Física) when they are liberal professionals (lawyers, engineers, publicists, among others) or people with a trade who carry out activities that generate obligations. Individuals are identified with their first and last names.

The registration process as State Provider (Proveedor del Estado) must be done at the General Directorate of Public Contracting (Dirección General de Contrataciones Públicas). This is a good option due to the different projects, supplies, and specialized services needed by the public institutions. 

To register, you will need the following documents:

• Copy of the identity card and electoral card
• Original certification from the Taxation Office (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos -DGII) stating that tax payments are up to date
• Required forms by the General Directorate of Public Contracting

The web portal Formalízate, a single record for business formalization, was created as a joint effort of various public sector institutions with the collaboration of the Dominican Republic’s Chamber of commerce. In this web portal, both EIRL and a. natural person can find information and proceed to set the enterprise or service.

If you're not looking to become an independent contractor, but hire one - learn how you can do it compliantly in Dominican Republic.

The tax registration process in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic’s Taxation Office is the Dirección General de Impuestos Internos -DGII. All taxation procedures must be done using the taxation number, known as RNC. The EIRL must be registered in order to obtain the RNC; this process is done by filing for the National Taxpayers Registry and applying for fiscal receipts (comprobantes fiscales).

For Natural Persons, the RNC number is equivalent to their identity card number.

VAT in the Dominican Republic

The value-added tax for services and sales is 18%. It is called the Value Tax for Transferring Industrial Goods and Services (Impuesto sobre Transferencia de Bienes Industrializados y Servicios – ITBIS).