此文章还有以下语言版本： 简体中文 (Chinese (Simplified))

Incorporate a Business in Sri Lanka – A High Performing Economy

Why Should You Incorporate a Company in Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka belongs to South Asia and is a high performing economy of this continent. This country has attracted a lot of foreign companies because of its skilled labor, which is one of the most important reasons why you should incorporate a company in Sri Lanka. Also, the Free Trade Agreement gives a lot of potentials, mainly access to the Indian market. English is widely spoken here which makes it easy for international companies. To incorporate a company in Sri Lanka, it is advisable to know the system and government here otherwise it may be complicated for you.

Register Company in Sri LankaBusiness Entities in Sri Lanka

When you are interested in starting a business in Sri Lanka following are some of the common business entities that you can opt for:

  1. A limited liability company: It is formed when the company has a director and a shareholder who can belong to any nationality.
  2. A public listed company: This type of business entity doesn’t require any capital investment for starting a business
  3. Representative Office: The ownership can be owned by a foreigner, but a company secretary must be appointed who belongs to Sri Lanka. Setting up a representative office here doesn’t allow any direct sales or productive operations
  4. Branch Office: The parent company decides the activities of the branch office.

 

Registering an Office in Sri Lanka

To incorporate a business in Sri Lanka, you need to register the business by following the beneath procedures:

  1. Choose a unique company name and register the same.
  2. Hire a company secretary who needs to sign a form stating that he/she has been appointed as the new company secretary.
  3. Registration of the business under the department of Register of companies.
  4. As per the company act of Sri Lanka, the companies that have been registered will be published in three different newspapers. Thus, all the information such as the name of the company, the address of the company, business entity, company registration number must be attached duly.
  5. Issue a public notice to incorporate a company in Sri Lanka within 60 days of incorporation.
  6. Register the company to get a tax identification number from taxpayer service unit of Revenue Department.
  7. Registration of VAT under Inland Revenue Department.
  8. Registration of labor under the department of labor and obtain an EPF number, i.e. Employee Provident Fund number.

To incorporate a company in Sri Lanka, one must have a business plan and complete knowledge of different entities in Sri Lanka. It takes around 21 days to register a private limited company in Sri Lanka while other business entities may take time between 3 weeks to 3 months depending on the number of permissions they need to take; such as export, import, and other licensing processes.

For more details, please contact us.