If you want to do business in Sierra Leone, this article explains the tax laws for a LLC which is the most common legal entity in Sierra Leone.
Uganda taxes corporate income on a worldwide basis. The prevailing approximate tax rate for offshore income, from our research, and your results may vary, is 30%. Sierra Leone doesn't have major incentives to remit income accrued abroad. Standard rate of taxation on a LLC entity is 30%. This ranks Sierra Leone as 139th when compared to CIT globally.
The value added tax (VAT) rate is 15%, which ranks Sierra Leone as 80th when compared to VAT taxation rate internationally. In terms of other taxation, an employer will contribute 10% to the equivalent of a social security fund and an employee will contribute 5%.
Thin capitalisation standards are not in effect. Thin capitalisation refers to any sort of laws on a business and the debt-to-asset ratios. Dividends received are included to corporate income tax base. Dividends are a distribution of a portion of a company earnings, voted by the board of directors, to a particular class of shareholders. Dividends can be either cash payments, shares of stock, or other property. Capital Gains are usually subject to Corporate Income Tax. A capital gains tax is levied on the profits that a corporation or natural person realizes when he or she sells sells a capital asset for a price that is higher than the purchase price.
The interest withholding tax rate is estimated at 15%. This means that the relevant tax authorities expects relevant legal entities to automatically withhold 15% of interest payments to non-residents. The dividends withholding tax rate is 10%. Which means that the tax authorities expects legal entities to withhold 10% of payments abroad on dividends. The royalties withholding tax rate is 25%. Which means that the taxman expects companies to withhold 25% of payments on royalties to non-residents.
There is no tax on wealth in Sierra Leone. There are real property and transfer taxes. There are no known inheritance taxes. We are aware of widely used R&D initiatives that provide tax relief in this country.
The above is not tax or legal advice for your company's circumstances. We are able to help you to find a lawyer in Sierra Leone who can properly advise you. Want to work together? Click incorporate now if you are in a hurry, or press the free consultation button above.
It takes approximately 343 hours to file and prepare documents for a Sierra Leone Mixed (English and Customary law).
The corporate tax is approximately 30% which is 139 in the world.
Owners of a company in Sierra Leone are not allowed to carry back a loss and may be allowed to carry forward a loss for 100 years.
The vat rate in Sierra Leone is 15% which ranks 80 in the world.
When looking for a jurisdiction in which to incorporate, the first thing to look at is the legal code. The body of law in Sierra Leone is mixed (english and customary law) law. You will want to get some local advice as to how to best structure a company in Sierra Leone. Electronic signatures are permitted.
The letters SL is for Sierra Leone and the most common legal entity type in Sierra Leone is a LLC.
The average time to incorporate is 20 weeks to setup a LLC in SL. The min share capitalization is SLL 0, This means you don't have any minimum share capital. The types of cash you can use to capitalize your business is often any legal tender.
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There must be at least 1 shareholder. This makes it possible for you to own a LLC in SL by yourself. Corporate Shareholders are allowed, meaning you could have a company as a shareholder. Foreign ownership is tolerated, up to 100% of the ownership of the LLC.
A company is only required to have 1 director on the board. Additionally, corporate directors are permitted. Directors should not expect to be private, as they are disclosed. There is a requirement to have annual meetings of shareholders.
A registered legal firm must be retained for an address, paid by the company on an annual basis, for an address which can receive litigation or other legal process on behalf of the business. A related requirement, a company secretary is not always necessary, at least not by law.
There is a legal obligation to file accounts on a yearly basis. Consequently, there is oftentimes a requirement to have these accounts audited.
Thin capitalization rules are in effect. A company is thinly capitalised when there is a greater proportion of debt than equity. The minimum capitalization for a Sierra Leone Mixed (English and Customary law) is SLL 0.
A corporate director is permitted, meaning this country is a good option if you are setting up a structure where you want to protect director liability.
The directors are disclosed in the public registry of Sierra Leone, OARG. Shareholders are not disclosed in the OARG.
Typically companies take 20 weeks to setup and there are 1 director(s) required and 1 shareholder(s) required at the time of incorporation.
Overall we think Sierra Leone is a bad option and have given it a score of 28 as an IO score, using the Incorporations.IO proprietary formula.
We can help you form a company in Sierra Leone. Click the button above for a no-obligation quote. We will provide you with all the necessary documents to open a bank account as well as a registered office in Sierra Leone, which is required by law.
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