Paperwork for business registering in Colombia

getting better says on Mar 16, 2008, 06:59:

I am not an expert on this though I am a shareholder in a small firm there. You need to decide what sort of company/business you want to register. If it is a sociedad anonima you need 5 shareholders (you can have 99.6% and the others 0.1% each). You need a RUT number, you get this at the DIAN and you can apply online though you still need to go to complete the process, and the queues are long. You need to register the business at the camara de commercio, they are slow, and you need to go every year to maintain it. Your investment in the business if you are foreign probably needs Banco de la Republica forms, and you'll have to do personal Colombian tax returns unless you keep your own investment and profits small. The business needs to file tax forms every month and depending on your luck the company is allocated a random day in the month to file which if it is early in the month is a nightmare as the return has to be up to the end of the previous month.
Of course if you can afford the right professionals they will do all this for you, but they're not cheap. In general the compliance with the tax and company law is likely to be a relatively big headache if it is a small business, and registering the business is not that difficult compared with the hassle of continuing compliance.
I would think hard about what you want to achieve and whether there is an easier way.

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vicshere says on Mar 16, 2008, 07:20:

how about a visa and a cedual first

listo

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Gator says on Mar 16, 2008, 08:28:

Just follow RAAAY's advice.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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RAAAY says on Mar 16, 2008, 08:41:

You don't need a visa or a cedula

Contact one of the atty's on the board. Tell the atty what you want. Atty will do EVERYTHING and it'll cost you around $100 plus the goverment charges.



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.........Its useless to argue with ignorance

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deathnova says on Mar 16, 2008, 09:06:

Register in Panama instead?

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jonas says on Mar 16, 2008, 10:27:

You don´t need the visa / cedula to register. To register an Empresa Unipersonal (E.U.) is fairly easy. Register with Camara de Comercio, you need a notarized Acta de Constitucion (easy, just copy one and change it to your needs). You also need an accountant. I have a great accountant and she charges very little (I pay 70mil a month, if interested PM me). You also need a Balance Inicial from your accountant stating that you have at least 50 million in capital registered. You don´t actually need this capital, just on paper and you will be taxed according to the registered capital. With this you can get a visa for your company at any consulate, be it Ecuador, Panama or your homecountry. You can renew this visa when expired (usually you start with a one year visa, sometimes they give 2) in Colombia.
Maybe you should describe a little more detailed what you are planning to set up and what your visa situation is.
Total cost for setting up a E.U. including visa and cedula should be around $800 or so for the 1st year.

Mi alma se la dejo al diablo

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Gator says on Mar 17, 2008, 11:12:

Damn, glad the central bank is not in the picture any more and a visa is no longer needed. BTW, when you find that $100 attorney please post contact information.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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RAAAY says on Mar 17, 2008, 13:27:

Gator.......the op's question was......." what is the procedure for a gringo to register his/her business in colombia."

My answer was........." Atty will do EVERYTHING and it'll cost you around $100 plus the goverment charges."

As you can see...the $100 is purely the Atty's fee to do all the nessairy work in registering the business here. A lot of them will do it for less.

A visa is not required to register a business.


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.........Its useless to argue with ignorance

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Gator says on Mar 17, 2008, 14:54:

A lot will do it for less-but not ours.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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brano says on Mar 18, 2008, 06:54:

well, im thinking of doing import-export business and also online business on www.mercadolibre.com.co. im currently working in taiwan but will be in colombia in september and as teaching doesnt really pay well in medellin i gotta think of other things to make money.

my other question is what is the best and the easiest way to get cedula. i had a student cedula before and it was a nightmare to get it. actually, i didnt really have the real cedula just that piece of green paper that didnt really serve for anything. i couldnt even open a bank account with it.

and by the way, whos ATTY? and thanx guys for all the feedback. highly appreciated...

Brano

"I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty."

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RAAAY says on Mar 18, 2008, 07:48:

An online business on Mecadolibre..??????

You might want to do a bit more research on that business idea.

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.........Its useless to argue with ignorance

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