Overview:

Tunisia is ranked 74 out of 189 economies, by the World Bank, in terms of the ease of doing business. That’s in addition to a lot of other benefits that encourage people to incorporate a business, including: the tax incentives, the large export economy, and the WTO trade membership.

Process:

1. Reserve the company name:

You will need to go to the National Center for Company Registration and reserve the name that you have chosen name (note: the name needs to be available).

2. Deposit the capital:

The capital needs to be deposited in a bank account that is opened in the name of the company to be incorporated.
Note: it is a special bank account (“compte bloqué”), and its single purpose is to get the capital deposited.

Once the business is incorporated, the capital will be reverted to a regular bank account.

3. Submit the application at the Industry Promotion Agency (APII):

For you to register with the Commercial Registry, Tax Authority, Social Security, Labor Inspectorate and obtain the company seal, you will need to go to the Industry Promotion Agency (Agence Nationale de la Promotion de l’Industrie et de ‘Innovation, APII).

You will need to provide the following documents:

• 10 original copies of the articles of association
• 4 declarations of the manager nomination
• 4 reports from the Registrar (commissaire aux apports) if the capital is partially not paid-in in
  cash
• 3 copies of the proof of company domicile
• 4 copies of the company’s legal representative’s ID
• 2 copies of the owners’ IDs
• 2 copies of the bank statement for the capital deposit
• 2 copies of supporting documents indicating the registered company office
• 2 certified copies of bank statement determining the company name and the start-up capital in
  TND.
• 5 copies of a declaration of investment (at APII or APIA, CEPEX, ONTT)
• 1 registration form (déclaration d’existence)
• 1 Commercial Registry forms (Registre du commerce)
• 1 form indicating the beneficial owners
• 1 certificate of birth ( to register at the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Securité Sociale)
• 1 application form for the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Securité Sociale) for the employer
• 1 application form for the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Securité Sociale) for the employees
• 1 declaration form of the establishment (formulaire de déclaration d’établissement) for Labor Inspection.

Once reviewed, the application will be transferred to the relevant agencies and your company will obtain the following registration with:

• The Authority and the tax ID (carte d’identification fiscale)
• The Commercial Registry (Registre de Commerce)
• The National social secuirty Fund (Caisse Nationale de Securité Sociale)
• The Labor Inspection.

Cost:

The associated cost to the company incorporation are:

• Tax registration: TND 150
• Courts fees: TND 50
• Registry fees: TND 40
• Company Seal: TND 13

The registration fees are paid at the same counter.

Procedure Time:

The company incorporation would take around 9 days to be completed:

• Reservation of the company name: 1 day
• Deposit the capital in a bank account opened in the name of the company to be incorporated: 1 day
• Submit the application at the One-Stop-Shop (APII) in order to register with the Commercial Registry, Tax Authority, Social Security, Labor Inspectorate and obtain the company seal: 7 days

References
1.World Bank – Doing Business, accessed October 2020, https://www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/country/t/ tunisia/TUN.pdf