To become a bona fide retailer the business must be registered with Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro). The business must also register with SARS for Value-Add-Tax (VAT), and finally, if you are seeking credit facilities with suppliers you must have a clean credit record.
The first steps to take
One of your first decisions when starting a business as a retailer will be whether to operate as a sole trader (under your own name) or register the business under its own name (as a close corporation, partnership, or company). To become a retailer the legal company that you can form can be: private or public limited liability company, external company (i.e. a branch of a foreign company), partnership, trading trust or a sole trader.
The Basics First
After you have registered your business, you need to ensure that various registrations are in place. Contact the South African Revenue Services to register as a: provisional tax payer (If you company is a CC or Company) and register the company as a taxpayer.
Trading licences
Only certain enterprises, such as liquor stores and arms dealers, require a licence to trade in South Africa. If you own a legally registered company, you have to pay a Regional Service Council (RSC) levy. Even if you don’t employ any full-time staff you are still required to register the RSC in the area in which you operate.