Business Permits & Incorporation for Foreigners in Punta Cana

Reduced Rate Percent

16

Standard Rate Percent

18

Reduced Rate Applies To

Certain services

Exemptions

Basic food items, medicines, water and education are exempt

Filing Obligation

Businesses must register for ITBIS and file monthly returns with DGII

Annual Filings

Companies must file annual corporate income tax returns and annual financial statements; SRLs are additionally required to have their accounts audited annually.

Monthly Filings

Monthly ITBIS (VAT) returns are mandatory once ITBIS-registered.

Rnc Requirement

Every company (SRL, SAS, SA, EIRL) or foreign branch conducting regular commercial activity must obtain an RNC (National Taxpayer Registry number) from DGII before it can legally invoice.

Municipal License

A separate municipal business permit/license is required to operate physically in a given locality, renewed annually.

E Invoicing Mandate

Electronic invoicing (e-CF) under Law 32-23 is now mandatory nationwide in phases — large taxpayers by 2024-2025, and micro, small and unclassified taxpayers by May 15, 2026, which covers most small foreign-owned businesses.

Incorporation Tax

A one-time incorporation tax of 1% of registered share capital is paid to DGII during company formation.

Infotep Training Levy

Employers pay a 1% payroll contribution to INFOTEP (the government training institute); an additional 0.5% is withheld from employee bonuses (not salary).

Labor Nationality Quota

Dominican labor law requires at least 80% of a company's total workforce to be Dominican nationals, which matters for foreign-owned companies planning to hire their own team locally.

Pension Social Security

Employers contribute 7.10% of salaries and withhold 2.87% from employee salaries for the pension system; registration with the Treasury of Social Security (TSS) is mandatory once a business hires staff.

Mandatory Profit Sharing

Employers must share 10% of net profits with employees, capped at 45 days' salary for staff with under 3 years' tenure and 60 days' salary for those with 3+ years.

Typical Timeline

Around 2-4 weeks end-to-end depending on document readiness; DGII's RNC issuance step alone runs about 10 business days.

Legal And Notary Fees

DOP 44,175

Approximate range USD 500-1,000; converted at midpoint

Annual Compliance Filing Costs

DOP 23,560

Approximate range USD 300-500/year; converted at midpoint

Chamber Of Commerce Filing Fees

DOP 11,780

Approximate range USD 100-300 depending on structure; converted at midpoint

Annual Municipal Business Permit

DOP 20,630

Approximate range USD 200-500/year; converted at midpoint

Basic Monthly Accounting Services

DOP 2,945

Starting price; complexity increases cost

Historical Minimum Capital Benchmark SRL

DOP 100,000

This RD$100,000 figure was the traditional statutory minimum for an SRL; it is no longer a fixed legal minimum after Law 68-19, but many founders still capitalize at or near this level, and some fee schedules (e.g. the 1% registration fee) are calculated against whatever capital figure is chosen.

Corporate Bank Account Opening

An additional 20–30 days, partly due to UBO (ultimate beneficial owner) validation under anti-money-laundering rules.

Overall Estimate

Most sources converge on roughly 30–45 days for full incorporation through to being invoice-ready; full-service providers who also bundle bank account opening cite around 12 weeks end-to-end. Using an experienced local lawyer/gestor materially speeds this up versus navigating it alone.

Trade Name Registration ONAPI

Typically a few business days to about 10 days including publication in ONAPI's monthly bulletin.

RNC Tax ID And Fiscal Receipts

Around 25 days at the DGII to obtain the RNC and fiscal receipt authorization.

Mercantile Registry And Bylaws

Filing and certificate issuance can be same-day to a few business days once the dossier is complete, though gathering notarized documents beforehand takes longer.

Core Incorporation Steps

• 1. Reserve and register the company's trade name (and logo, if any) with ONAPI (Oficina Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial) — this is the first mandatory step.
• 2. Draft and notarize the company bylaws (estatutos sociales), minutes of the constituent assembly, and list of partners/shareholders with their ID or passport details.
• 3. File the incorporation dossier and register the company with the Mercantile Registry (Registro Mercantil) at the Chamber of Commerce and Production (Cámara de Comercio y Producción) corresponding to the province where the company will be domiciled — for a Punta Cana-based business this is generally the local Chamber of Commerce serving La Altagracia province rather than Santo Domingo.
• 4. Obtain the company's RNC (Registro Nacional de Contribuyentes) tax ID from the DGII (Dirección General de Impuestos Internos) and register for fiscal receipts (NCF), without which the business cannot legally invoice.
• 5. Open a corporate bank account (requires the signatory to be personally present under current anti-money-laundering rules, plus the RNC and full incorporation documents).
• 6. If the business will hire staff, register with the Ministry of Labour and with the Treasury of Social Security (Tesorería de la Seguridad Social, TSS) / Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Social (CNSS).
• 7. Depending on the sector (e.g. tourism, food service, healthcare), obtain additional municipal operating licenses or sector-specific permits.

Details

The Dominican Republic allows 100% foreign ownership of companies. There are no restrictions on the nationality of shareholders, and a foreigner does not need a Dominican co-owner or sponsor to incorporate.

Required

No

Practical Caveats

While no legal partner is required, all incorporation paperwork must be filed in Spanish and registration with the local Chamber of Commerce is generally done in person, so most foreign founders use a local lawyer or gestor holding a Power of Attorney to lodge documents on their behalf. There is no legal requirement to travel to the Dominican Republic to complete incorporation.