If you wish to purchase goodwill (without the walls) either for
an investment, or to work yourself or your close relations, it
is important to remind you that:
•
the commercial property (goodwill) is not protected at all by
the law like in france
•
lease 3,6,9 don't exist in Dominican Republic
1) duration of the lease of the trade suggested, because this
one will not be necessarily renewed in its term, which has a
direct and very important influence on the value of the aforesaid
trade
2) require from the salesman, IN WRITING AND SIGN, the accountancy
as well as the possible estimated budgets of the business
3) DO NOT PRECIPITATE ON A "FANTASTIC" BUSINESS BUT
TAKE TIME TO OBSERVE 2 TO 3 WEEKS THE MOVEMENT OF BUSINESS OF
THE OBJECT ON SALE IN ORDER TO SEE WITH YOUR OWN EYES THE ECONOMIC
REALITY OF THE GOOD. THIS WILL ENABLE YOU TO COMPARE SHADOW BUDGETS
WITH REALITY
4) do not forget that tourism season lasts form 4 to 6 months
to make your shadow budgets
5) it is IMPERATIVE to control, before payment, that:
• all the employees of the salesman have had the benefit
of a LIQUIDATION (that they have received all the legal services
attached to their dismissal). You must insist to have all these
documents LEGALISED BY A NOTARY
•
you must put an electric box and the telephone line (and/or Internet)
at your name in order to avoid having to pay the old invoices
•
you should make a complete inventory, LEGALISED BY A NOTARY,
of the goods bought with the trade (pieces of furniture, machines,
stocks...)
•
the contract LEGALISED BY NOTARY will have to specify well that
the purchaser buys only the assets and customers but in no case
the liabilities
THE PURCHASE OF GOODWILL FOR INVESTMENT CAN BE CARRIED OUT BY
A NON-RESIDENT OR A RESIDENT. IF YOU WISH TO OPERATE THE AFOREMETIONED
GOODWILL YOURSELF, PLEASE LEAN ON PARAGRAPHS BELOW.
Operating a business or company:
The administrative formalities:
Operating a business or company on Dominican territory goes
under some few bonds:
•
if you wish to operate a business yourself you must
(if you wish to be in accordance with the laws in force) ask
for your residence card (see to
settle). This card
is easily and quickly obtained as long as you are a « normal » citizen
• you should find out about the insurances needed to operate
your business
• you must get registered at the RNC (National Register of Taxpayers)
•
if your business is in PLC you must also register it at the
RM (« Registro Mercantil », Companies Registration
Office)
•
you should also find out about labour law in order to avoid
conflicts with your employees
The taxation:
Any business must be registered with the RNC in order to be
subjected to the ITBIS (Tax on the transfer of goods and
services, local VAT, see complements). You have also the
obligation to hold an annual accountancy in order to make,
during the first quarter of the following year, your DECLARACION
JURADA (declaration for income tax). Note that income taxes
of less than 8' 000 US$ per year are null.
ALL INFORMATION EXPOSED ABOVE DOES NOT AIM TO BE EXHAUSTIVE.
IT WILL ENABLE YOU, IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW THEM SCRUPULOUSLY,
TO AVOID UNPLEASANT AND EXPESIVE SURPRISES. THIS INFORMATION
IS THE RESULT OF 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THIS COUNTRY AND
IT HAS GOT THE SOLE AIM OF HELPING YOU TO INVEST PEACEFULLY
IN THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY.
DO NOT BELIEVE, AS SOME PEOPLE
OFTEN TRY TO MAKE YOU BELIEVE, THAT THIS COUNTRY HAS A FAULTY
LEGISLATION. ON THE CONTRARY,
MANY LAWS DO EXIST, WHAT IS SOMETIMES FAULTY IS THE RESPECT
OF THESE LAWS.
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IS A COUNTRY THAT, FOR
MORE THAN 10 YEARS, HAS BEEN OPEN TO BUSINESS WORLD (PARTNER
OF OMC, OF
IMF, OF THE WORLD BANK AND SEVERAL SUPRANATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS).
THE COUNTRY HAS GOT CONTINUED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EUROPEAN
UNION IN TERMS OF LEGAL, ECONOMIC AND POLICY CO-OPERATION SINCE
MANY YEARS.
A VERY STRONG POLITICAL WILL IS EXPRESSED IN FAVOUR
OF THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS IN ALL THE FIELDS AND MORE PARTICULARLY
IN THE TOURIST SECTOR.
