Registration of new businesses |30 July 2012

All businesses should collect a registration form from the Advisory Centre, Room 2 at Ocean Gate House.  Upon completion of the form, it should be returned to the Advisory Centre to be processed so that you can become a registered taxpayer. SRC provides a reasonable time frame of 14 days, as stipulated in the Revenue Administration Act 2010 section 4, for you to register.

A person who becomes an employer after the commencement of the Income and Non-Monetary Benefit Tax Act 2010, shall, within 7 days of him becoming an employer, apply to the Revenue Commissioner, Seychelles Revenue Commission, using the approved form, to be registered as an employer. Further to that, the employer also needs to register their employees within 7 days of commencing work.

Note:  If an application is not made within 7 days of your becoming an employer, or the application contains any information that is false, in any particular way, then you are guilty of an offence and could be liable to a fine by the Court of R10,000 and imprisonment for 6 months.

Why do you need to register your business?
It is mandatory for all businesses to register with the Seychelles Revenue Commission. Therefore, it is an offence under the law if you do not register your business. Businesses need to register in order for them to lodge their tax return and pay their tax liability or get a refund depending on their business’ performance. In addition, they need to pay a monthly contribution for their employees as income tax, so that their workers can be remunerated when they retire or in cases of illness.  Businesses should pay taxes to contribute for the improvement of the economy as they benefit while trading in this country.

What information is required for registration?
To register your business, you will need to submit the following information:
a. Name of the business
b. The date the business commenced
c. The name and address of the owner of the business and where the owner is a partnership, the name and address of each partner in the partnership
d. The nature of the activities of the business
e. An estimate of the net income the business is expected to derive in the first tax year of its operation

Businesses should provide the following documents if they are registering as a:
• Company – a copy of memorandum and Articles of the association, the company registration, a list of all directors and shareholders and business licence.
• Trust -- a copy of the trust deed, a list of all trustees.
• Partnership – a copy of the partnership registration, a list of all partners and business license.
• Individual -- a copy of the business license (if applicable).
• All employers -- A list of all your employees.

Upon completing the form and returning it to the Advisory Centre, the Revenue Commission will register your business, once SRC is satisfied that all relevant information has been provided. You will then be issued a Tax Identification Number (TIN) which must be used as a reference on all correspondences with the Seychelles Revenue Commission.

For more information
You can contact the Seychelles Revenue Commission, Advisory Centre, Room 2, First Floor, Ocean Gate House or phone 4293737 should you require any assistance in completing this application form.  For employers living on Praslin, information can be obtained from the Social Security Fund office, Baie Ste Anne or phone 4232041.

Submitted by the Seychelles Revenue Commission