SEC-S20W4 | My Business Ideas | Registration, License, and Taxes

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I welcome everyone to week 4 of the engagement challenge, we have been discussing about our business ideas of course I can testify how helpful it has been, this week Registration, license and Taxes will be discussed.

Section 1- We are interested to know about the registration procedure of your business in your country and how you manage it

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Any business owner in my country must go through some procedures before the agency(Corporate Affairs Commission) in charge of business registration will give the go ahead. Though there some minor business that operate without registration just like the one I'm into I have not registered it yet ,but when I reach my desired growth I will surely register and obtain the necessary certificates, here are some procedures.

• Business type. This is the first thing that is being considered before registration, that's the owner must provide a specific business type that he or she is interested in.

• The name of the business. Since there are millions of business name , the name of the business must pass thorough screening to ascertain it's uniqueness , in order words this will help business owners to differentiate their business from one another.

• Submission of business document. The business is required to submit the requirements for the agencies to go through.

• Payment and processing of stamp duty. This takes some working days before it finally comes out.

• Collection of certificate.

Section 2- Tell us all about the procedure to obtain any licence/permit etc. to run your business.

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In Nigeria business permit is for foreigners who want to establish a business in the country. As citizens we don't necessarily need any permit rather we need licence which depends on the type of business you are into. For instance someone that is into medical line such as pharmacy, the person will look for the agency in charge of medical license (MDCN).

For business CAC is incharge of the regulations. They will insure that the business is fully registered before issuing a licence.
There must be tax identification number given by the federal inland revenue service (FIRS) or state inland revenue to be sure of the business originality.
There must a permit for the location of the business and lastly the the environment where the business will be located will be properly supervised. These are few important things to be considered .

For now my business falls under free trade. I don't have any government restrictions.

In my country where some workers work reluctantly , it takes up to 3- 7 working days.

Section 3- What is the tax structure for traders/manufacturers
What is the Sales Tax/Trade Tax applicable to your business?
What are other tax slabs if your sales are higher than your current sales?
Are you eligible for any tax rebate depending on your business size?
If yes, how do you file your tax return?

Like I said my business is still operating under free trade. I don't have any idea of the tax applicable to my business. Though paying of tax differs depending on the state. The state inland revenue will share the tax according to the size of the business.

Section 4- What are the options in case you face any tax-related problems?
Do you feel you can manage them with the help of professionals, or do you solve them on your own?
Do you have any consumer courts in your country?
Who has the upper hand in case of any disputes between businesses and consumers?
Does your country have any "fair trade" policy?

Tax related problems from what I have seen around my state is not something a lay-man can ignorantly dive into without the help of professionals or auditors who knows how to manage things. When it's time I would like to hire professionals .

We have customary court in my country which is known as the lowest court that have the power to settle civil matters.

There's no upper hand in a dispute between businesses and consumers. The only thing needed is negotiation in order to solve the matter amicably. There are some case where they two parties can be right in their opinion so to me no one should claim of having upper hands against each other.

Fair policy in my country has been of help to consumers, it is practiced but some individual business owner fault to obey the policy making life difficult for common man.

I'm inviting @goodybest @alee75 @mostofajaman