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Doing business in Liberia

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Liberia. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with between 10 and 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

 

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 189 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2015.

 

No.		Procedure	Time to Complete	Associated Costs
	1	Reserve a unique company name Agency: Liberia Business Registry The applicant can search the name online or at the Liberian Business Registry (LBR) helpdesk. The reservation of the name costs LRD 1,400 and lasts for 120 days.	Less than one day (online procedure)	LRD 1,400
*	2	Register at the Liberia Business Registry Agency: Liberia Business Registry The entrepreneur submits the company registration application to the Liberia Business Registry (LBR) office. The application must include the following documents: Consolidated application for a limited liability company contains: 1. Registration Form (RF – 001) 2. Articles of incorporation 3. Copy of ID documents as attachments to forms A or B 4. Additional parts: - Empowered person form (A) or Registered agent form (B) in case of a company representative - Incorporator(s) form (E) - Shares and shareholder(s) form (F) - Information for TAX authority form (Q) LBR officers review the application and request the Tax Identification Number (TIN) and BPS from the Ministry of Finance on behalf of the entrepreneur.	1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure)	no charge
*	3	Pay fees and obtain proof of payment Agency: Liberia Business Registry (Central Bank window) The entrepreneur proceeds to the bank window in order to pay the associated registration fees. Upon payment of the fee, the Bank officer issues a flag receipt of the Government of Liberia as proof of payment. This receipt has to be returned to the initial officer who accepted the application.	1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure)	no charge
	4	Receive the Business Registration Certificate Agency: Liberia Business Registry The entrepreneur returns to the Liberia Business Registry office to submit the proof of fee payment. The officer then journalizes the dossier and provides the entrepreneur with the receipt slip, thereby approving the dossier for processing. The entrepreneur can track the status of the application online; and upon approval, the company receives a Business Registration Certificate. The amount of LRD 4,000 is charged for business registration. As of June 27 2012, companies no longer need to pay a fee of LRD 4,200 for the business license.	2 days	LRD 4,000