SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Yaw Ofosu-Kusi
University of Energy and Natural Resources,
Department of Entrepreneurship and Business Science
TOPIC 7
REGISTERING A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN GHANA
• Objectives: Students should be:
• Aware of the relevant documents for registering a social enterprise in Ghana
• Familiar with the process, and
• Able to set up a social enterprise if they wished to.
• Primary source: https://firmusadvisory.com/register-not-for-profit-ghana/
Introduction
• There is no specific format for registration of Social Enterprises
• Research shows about 38% of SEs register as sole proprietorships in
Ghana
• Others are registered as Private Company limited by guarantee
• This is a format used by Not-for-profit organizations such as
• Clubs
• Cooperatives
• Community-based organizations
Requirements
• Some of the primary requirements for setting up a social enterprise in
Ghana, are:
• Name of the Social Enterprise
• Names of Directors/Executive Council
• Details of Directors/Executive Council and Secretary
• Names
• Age
• Nationality
• Residential addresses
• Designations
• Name and address of auditors
Procedures
• Stage 1: Choice of Name
• This must be a decent name that has not been registered by another
enterprise or person
• Stage 2: Completion of Company Limited by Guarantee Form 3
• Name
• Main activity of the organization
• Business address
• Place of business (Physical location)
• Postal address
• Particulars of principal officers, i.e. Directors (at least 2 at this stage),
Secretary, etc
Stage 3: Completion of Company Ltd by Guarantee Regulation Form
• Name of the organization
• Nature of activity or business
• Name and Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) of Executive Council
members
• Particulars of the Applicant/Subscriber
• Name
• Date of birth
• Nationality
• Occupation
• TIN
• Postal Address
• Signature
Stage 4: Submission of the Forms
• The completed forms have to be submitted to the Registrar General’s
Department (RGD)
• Payment of C270 fee direct to the RGD
• If registration is successful, then:
• RGD issues:
• Certificate of Incorporation
• Certificate of Commencement
• Company’s Regulations
Obligations of a Company Ltd by Guarantee: Taxes
• Social enterprises (as companies limited by guarantee) are exempted from
the payment of company taxes
• That is taxes on their net incomes or profits
• They are also exempted from the payment of VAT
• Unless the SE engages in buying and selling
• They must pay income taxes on the earnings of their employees
• A tax deductible at source on a ‘pay-as-you-earn’ scheme
• The SE must file monthly tax returns of its employees and pay to the
Ghana Revenue Authority the withheld income by the 15th of the
following month
• They would be liable for penalty and even prosecution for non-
