Source: tech.liga.net
How easily it is to register your business online and whether you can avoid contacts with officials in this way.
Last March, it became possible to register a business online in Ukraine. You open your bar or vyshyvanka tailor shop. You really need to register. But you don’t want to contact officials. The good news is that now it is not necessary.
Today, online business registration services are becoming increasingly popular. For example, according to the National Agency for e-governance, more than 10 thousand businessmen have registered through the electronic procedure since March 2017. That sounds like a large number. But it is just a drop in the ocean of small businesses.
LIGA.net tried to find out how to register online, how difficult is it and what aspects you need to know.
At what point do you need to register a business?
The BRDO COO Oleksiy Dorohan says that if you plan to launch your business at a fixed location for consumers or start some business in the B2B segment, you need to register it before its opening.
If we are talking about freelancing, remote or field work, you need to register your business when this activity is performed in a systematic manner. Actually, it is considered systematic if it occurs more than 4 times a year.
“In this context, the general recommendation is to try products and services on friends and acquaintances before registering and opening your business,” Dorohan says.
Where to begin?
Now online registration is available for both individual entrepreneurs and legal entities. But there is one important point. You need to have an electronic digital signature (EDS) to do this.
You can obtain it from the State Fiscal Service and a wide range of public and private AKCC (accredited key certification center) free of charge. Also, you can make your EDS through banks, for example, PrivatBank24. Later, mobile operators will provide the Mobile ID service as well. They are currently testing and launching it.
When you receive your EDS, you can register as an IE or legal entity in two services – the Online House of Justice and the iGov public services portal. When using these two services, you will be immediately asked to enter your EDS, and then you will enter your data in electronic form in your personal profile.
Pitfalls, timing and cost
According to Oleksiy Dorohan, after registering as an IE or a LLC, as a rule, it is necessary to go through additional stages, but not all of them are available online. In addition, there is a taxation aspect.
“A single tax is popular among entrepreneurs. Therefore, when registering as an IE, it is important to apply for selecting a simplified taxation system and ensure that a tax agency received it your application. In addition, you will need to contact the tax agency regarding a registration book and extract from the register,” he says.
There are cases when application on selecting a simplified taxation system may not reach the tax agency, and you need to control this aspect.
“It would be helpful as well to think about accounting services, as there can be lot of problems with this. Now many services and companies provide such services,” Dorohan says.
According to the expert, if you have a clear plan and make no mistakes, the process of registering a business can take on average from 2 weeks to 1 month. The cost of registration without consultants is from 100 hryvnias to several thousand hryvnias, depending on the type of business.
Inconvenient convenience
Unfortunately, many people still do not know what an EDS is and how to use it. Therefore, most entrepreneurs register a business in the old manner. Many people want to personally see those to whom they give their documents.
“Today, online registration of business is not available (fully available – Ed.), because everything looks so good only on paper. To do this, you need to have electronic keys. And, as a rule, no one has them,” the Director of the Yurkomfort law firm Dmitry Kobylinsky says.
According to him, in most cases, entrepreneurs use the services of law firms that follow new developments in legislation and know all the aspects. They offer entrepreneurs to register for a relatively small fee (about 1,200 UAH).
Life after registration
After registering, any IE will need a bank account to send and receive payments. Fortunately, you do not need to go to the bank to open it, since available online services are already fully operational. One of the most recent developments is the OK, Alfa online banking for entrepreneurs from Alfa-Bank Ukraine.
This service has significantly simplified the procedure of remote account opening. Any IE can become a bank customer without ever visiting its office.
You just need to register in the “OK, Alpha!” system, indicating only your taxpayer identification number and mobile phone number, and after confirming with a one-time password, you will get allocated bank account details, which can be used for billing and signing contracts, sent to your mobile. A mobile banker will bring clients the documents that should be signed when opening an account under the law.
According to the Alfa-Bank Ukraine press service, “OK, Alpha!” online banking is an opportunity for IEs to take advantage of bank services without visiting its office. All operations necessary for an entrepreneur, from opening an account to ordering statements and from sending reports to the tax agency to legal services, can be conducted online, in a full-fledged virtual bank.
Moreover, you do not need to fill out long forms, as in other services, when opening an account. All things considered to save the time of entrepreneurs as much as possible.