The short answer
Registering a business in Uganda is three separate jobs at three separate offices: reserve and register your name with URSB through its e-registry, take a free Tax Identification Number from URA, and buy a trading licence from KCCA or your local council if you trade from fixed premises. A business name costs UGX 90,000 at URSB, UGX 35,000 to reserve plus UGX 55,000 to register. A private company with nominal share capital up to UGX 5,000,000 costs UGX 105,000 plus 0.5% stamp duty, on top of the same UGX 35,000 reservation.
URSB's own service standard is a name reserved within 3 working hours, a company certificate within 3 working hours and a business name certificate within 6 working hours, once a complete and paid application is in. Most people still take 3 to 10 business days end to end, because the slow part is drafting documents and collecting director details before they ever open the portal. The full fee list, including the council charges people forget, is on cost-of-registering-a-business-in-uganda.
Business name or company: pick before you pay
Both routes start with the same name reservation at URSB, and after that they diverge in cost, paperwork and what they leave on your plate every year.
| Business name | Private limited company | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost at URSB | UGX 90,000, reservation included | UGX 140,000 on UGX 5,000,000 capital: UGX 35,000 reservation, UGX 105,000 registration, 0.5% stamp duty |
| Documents | Owner details and a National ID | Memorandum and articles of association, statutory declaration of compliance, directors, secretary, registered office and beneficial owners |
| Who owns the debts | You do, personally | The company does, which is the whole point of the structure |
| URSB service standard | Certificate within 6 working hours of a complete, paid application | Certificate within 3 working hours of a complete, paid application |
| Every year afterwards | Nothing at URSB unless details change | An annual return at UGX 55,000, plus UGX 35,000 per change of directors and per resolution |
| Suits | A sole trader or small partnership trading under a name | Outside shareholders, higher risk contracts, or anything where personal liability would sink you |
Most Ugandan shops, salons and small services do not need a company to start. A business name is enough until there is a real reason for limited liability, and switching later costs another registration, not a lost year.
Gather this before you open the portal
The portal steps take hours. Collecting the documents is what takes days, so do it first.
For a business name or partnership
- Your National ID and the owner or partner details exactly as they appear on it
- A first choice of name and a second choice, because a reservation is a search and the first name may already be taken
- An email address and phone number for the e-registry account
- UGX 90,000 ready to pay by mobile money, Visa card or at a bank of your choice
For a private limited company
- A memorandum and articles of association
- A statutory declaration of compliance
- Details of the directors, the company secretary and the registered office
- Beneficial ownership details, required under the Companies (Beneficial Ownership) Regulations 2023
- Your nominal share capital figure, because both the URSB fee band and the 0.5% stamp duty are calculated from it
Drafting and commissioning those company documents is where money leaves before URSB sees a shilling. The reported market ranges for that work, and the rest of the first year bill, are on cost-of-registering-a-business-in-uganda.
The URSB steps, in order
URSB has not published a numbered walkthrough of the online process, so treat the order below as the standard flow described by URSB and registration agents, and confirm the current screens once you log in.
- Create an account on the URSB e-registry at eregistry.ursb.go.ug, the address the old obrs.ursb.go.ug links now redirect to.
- Search and reserve your name, UGX 35,000 for either a business name or a company name.
- Fill in the registration form: owner details and National ID for a business name, or the company documents listed above for an incorporation.
- Generate a payment registration number (PRN) and pay by mobile money, Visa card or at a bank of your choice. For a company, the 0.5% stamp duty on nominal share capital is paid at this stage too.
- Download the certificate once URSB approves the application.
| Step | Where | Official fee | Service standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reserve a name | URSB e-registry | UGX 35,000 | Within 3 working hours |
| Register a business name | URSB e-registry | UGX 55,000, UGX 90,000 with the reservation | Certificate within 6 working hours |
| Register a partnership | URSB e-registry | UGX 55,000 after the reservation | Not separately published |
| Register a private company, capital up to UGX 5,000,000 | URSB e-registry | UGX 105,000 plus 0.5% stamp duty | Certificate within 3 working hours |
| Get a TIN | URA instant TIN portal | Free | About 5 minutes for an individual with a National ID |
| Trading licence | KCCA division or your council | By trade and area grade, see trading-licence-uganda | Assessed on the day, paid at a bank |
Those working hour figures are URSB's service standard once your application and payment are complete, not a promise about your week.
The deadlines that start once you are registered
The certificate is the start of your obligations, not the end of them. This is the calendar nobody hands you with it.
| Obligation | Deadline | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|
| Trading licence, if you trade from fixed premises | Before you start trading, then renewed by 1 January each year. It expires on 31 December | Trading without a required licence is an offence under the Trade (Licensing) Act, punishable by a fine or up to six months in prison |
| Local service tax on the business owner | Once a year, assessed at the same visit as the trading licence | UGX 5,000 to UGX 100,000 a year by monthly turnover, so the cost is the tax itself |
| Local service tax deducted from employees | Remitted to the authority where the employee lives by 31 October | A penalty of 50% of the local service tax due |
| NSSF registration and contributions | From your first employee. 15% of gross pay, 10% employer and 5% employee, due by the 15th of the following month | The contribution remains owed. The current late payment charge was not published in the sources checked here, so ask NSSF |
| Annual return, companies only | Filed at URSB, UGX 55,000 for a company limited by shares | We could not find a published URSB late filing penalty, so confirm the current position with URSB |
| VAT registration | Once annual turnover passes UGX 300,000,000, the threshold from 1 July 2026 | VAT registration also pulls you into EFRIS e-invoicing |
Presumptive income tax is nil on annual turnover up to UGX 10,000,000, so a small trader who registers is not walking into a tax bill. Above that, keeping records is worth money: in the UGX 10,000,000 to UGX 30,000,000 band the tax is 0.4% of turnover above UGX 10,000,000 with records, against a flat UGX 80,000 without them.
The mistakes that cost money at this stage
- Printing anything before the name is reserved. The UGX 35,000 reservation is the search, and a first choice can come back taken. Bring a second choice and hold off on signage, stock and a mobile money line until the reservation is through.
- Paying an agent before you know the official fee. Owners report paying from about UGX 600,000 upwards for a filing URSB charges UGX 90,000 for. Paying for someone else's time is a fair choice, but make it knowing the number.
- Registering a company to look serious. It is only UGX 60,000 more at URSB, but it commits you to an annual return at UGX 55,000 and UGX 35,000 for every change of directors or resolution, every year after.
- Budgeting only the URSB fee. For a shop with one employee, the trading licence, local service tax and employer NSSF cost several times the registration in year one.
- Treating the certificate as tax registration. The TIN is a separate, free application at URA, and the trading licence is a separate application at your council.
- Hiring before registering with NSSF. Since the NSSF (Amendment) Act 2022 the duty starts at one employee, not five.
- Missing 31 October. Local service tax deducted from staff is small, and the penalty for not remitting it is 50% of what was due.
Set this up first
Once the certificate is out, take these in order and stop where your business currently is.
- The basics at their real cost. The URSB fee above, a free TIN, and the trading licence for your trade. Only the TIN is free, and none of it needs an agent. If you would rather hand the filing over, business-registration-services-uganda sets out what the service covers and what the government still charges you directly.
- The free habits, from day one. Business money kept apart from personal money, a daily record of sales and expenses, WhatsApp Business with a catalogue, and a claimed Google Business Profile so the business shows on Maps, see how-to-add-business-to-google-maps-uganda. That daily record is also what drops your presumptive tax from a flat UGX 80,000 to 0.4% of turnover above UGX 10,000,000.
- Once there is stock to lose or staff at the till, put sales, stock and the daily cash up on Growth Informer Business, our cloud POS, with EFRIS switched on only when URA requires it of your business.
- Once customers look you up before they visit, a website , with a monthly care plan if you want it maintained. A stall or a one person service business does not need this yet, and we will say so.
- A custom build, quoted as a job, only when no ready made tool fits the workflow.
- If a penalty, assessment or URA deadline is already live, we are registered with URA as a tax agent and can file, object and represent you, quoting after we have seen the notice, see tax-agent-services-uganda.
If you are still deciding whether the business is worth registering, run the numbers through business-profit-calculator-uganda first.
Frequently asked questions
How do I register a business name in Uganda?
Create an account on the URSB e-registry, search and reserve your name for UGX 35,000, fill in the registration form with your National ID and owner details, generate a payment registration number and pay UGX 55,000, then download your certificate once URSB approves it.
How long does URSB take to register a business?
URSB's service standard is a name reserved within 3 working hours, a company certificate within 3 working hours and a business name certificate within 6 working hours, once a complete and paid application is in. Most people take 3 to 10 business days overall because of document preparation.
What is OBRS URSB?
OBRS is the Online Business Registration System, URSB's e-registry for reserving names and registering business names, partnerships and companies online. It now sits at the eregistry.ursb.go.ug address.
What documents do I need to register a company in Uganda?
A memorandum and articles of association, a statutory declaration of compliance, details of the directors, company secretary and registered office, beneficial ownership details under the Companies (Beneficial Ownership) Regulations 2023, and your nominal share capital figure, which sets both the URSB fee band and the 0.5% stamp duty.
Do I need a TIN before I register my business?
No, you can get the TIN after your URSB certificate. It is free, and an individual with a National ID can get an instant TIN online in about five minutes.
What must I do after my business is registered?
Take out a trading licence before you trade and renew it by 1 January, pay local service tax when the licence is assessed, register with NSSF from your first employee and pay 15% of gross pay by the 15th of each month, remit employees' local service tax by 31 October, and file an annual return at URSB if you registered a company.