How to Register a Sole Proprietorship in Angola

The Republic of Angola (República de Angola) is settled on the west coast of Southern Africa. With its rainfall climate, Angola is home to approximately 34.5 million people. In the past few years, it became the fastest growing country in Africa in the economic areas. In the period 2001–2010, Angola had the world's highest annual average GDP growth, at 11.1%. 

How to register a sole proprietorship in Angola

If you intend to register your business and be a sole proprietor, the article below will help you with guidelines on how you may do that.
Firstly you will need to obtain a certificated name of the business. The availability of the name can be checked at the commercial registry by the Ministry of Justice. To register the name, it is necessary to apply the One-stop-shop with the:

• State the proprietorship's proposed name 
• Request the issuance of a certificate that confirmed the uniqueness of the name

For name changes or reservations without establishing a new business, the Certificate fee costs Kz 29,040. The fees are paid within the one-stop-shop bank counter.

There are two ways to prepare the articles of association to incorporate a new business:

• Reach for the lawyer's services to draft the company documents
• Fill in the standard documents offered by the One-stop shop. 

If you decide to use the standard Statutes of Association from the One-stop shop (2 pages), it can be done directly at the agency. You must enter the required information 

• ID
• Address
• Activities of proprietorship 

You must submit the proprietorship's documents to the Notary Public at the One-stop shop. Once the documents pass the reviews, four copies will be sent to the agencies in-charged for approval and filling. The copies will be delivered to the representatives of the Commercial Registry, the National Press (Imprensa National), the National Institute of Statistics, Tax office of the Ministry of Finance, Social Security Institute.

VAT in Angola

Once documents are verified and completed, you must apply at the National Tax Office section within the One-stop shop to obtain the National Identification Number (NIF). Self-employed workers (Group B) are taxed at a flat rate of 15%. This 15% tax rate applies to 70% of the gross income. If you are carrying out an industrial or commercial activity (Group C) you will be taxed at a flat rate of 30% or 6.5%. 

The VAT rate in Angola is 14%.

After you register for VAT, it must be calculated regularly. The VAT amount is calculated by the income that you receive by selling goods and services. The VAT must be submitted by the end of March each year.