Understand what the administration expects from you

Choosing and reserving your company name in Algeria

A company name is reserved with the CNRC (National Trade Register Centre), which checks that no other company already uses it and issues a name certificate. It costs 800 DA according to the CNRC fee schedule, is valid for 6 months and is requested at the local branch or online on Sidjilcom, with up to 4 ranked proposals. The certificate lets the notary draft the articles of association, but it does not protect the name as a trademark: that requires a separate filing with INAPI, valid for 10 years and renewable.

Your obligations in the first year after setting up a business

In the first week after the trade register extract, request your NIF (tax number) and file the G n°8 declaration of existence (30 days at most). Then register with CASNOS within 10 days of starting business, request your NIS (statistical number) and open the bank account. Then come the regular returns: G n°50 every month under the real regime, G n°12 and G n°12 bis under the IFU, CNAS registration within 10 days of each hire. The first year closes with the CASNOS income declaration before 1 March and the annual returns by 30 April.

Opening your company's bank account in Algeria

The business account is opened once the company is entered in the trade register, usually after obtaining the NIF (tax number) and the NIS (statistical number). Banks usually ask for the trade register extract, the articles of association, the NIF and NIS documents, the manager's ID and proof of the registered office. Each bank sets its own list: ask for it before your appointment.

Getting your company's round stamp made: when, what it says, what it costs

Have the round stamp made as soon as you receive the trade register extract, because it usually shows the register number. It carries the company name, legal form, registered office address and trade register (RC) number, sometimes the NIF (tax number). Expect about 3,500 DA at an engraver: that is the price we have seen in Algiers, as a guide only.

The electronic trade register: RCE code, reading it and your obligations

The electronic trade register is the trade register extract issued by the CNRC (National Trade Register Centre) in a secure format: it bears an electronic "RCE" code, a graphic symbol printed at the top right of the front side, which holds encrypted information about the trader. The code can be read with a phone using the free app offered on the CNRC portal, and its information is kept up to date by the CNRC. The model of this extract is set by Executive Decree 18-112 of 5 April 2018. Since Law 26-12 of 8 June 2026, any change must be entered in the register within one month.

Setting up a business in Algeria as a foreigner: what the law allows in 2026

Yes, a foreigner can set up a company in Algeria and own 100% of its capital in most activities. Since the 2020 supplementary finance law, the obligation to partner with Algerian residents holding 51% (the 51/49 rule) applies in only two cases: importing goods for resale in their original state, and so-called strategic activities. A foreign manager, or a foreigner who trades in their own name, must also be legally resident and obtain the professional card issued by the wilaya (province).

Apostille and legalisation: using a foreign document in Algeria, and an Algerian document abroad

Since 9 July 2026, a public document from a country that is party to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 can be used in Algeria with an apostille, affixed by an authority of that country: the Algerian consulate no longer needs to legalise it. For an Algerian document going abroad, the apostille costs 1,500 DA in stamp duty. With non-party countries, and with Germany, Austria and Greece, which objected to Algeria's accession, consular legalisation continues, and a document written in a language other than Arabic then goes to an official translator-interpreter.

Liaison office, branch or subsidiary: how a foreign business sets up in Algeria

A foreign business can set up in Algeria in three forms. A liaison office prospects and represents the company with no commercial activity, under a Ministry of Commerce approval valid for two years. A branch is an establishment of the foreign company that operates in Algeria in its name and is entered in the trade register. A subsidiary is a company under Algerian law (SARL, EURL or SPA) that acquires legal personality when it is registered.

ANADE, ANGEM, CNAC: public support for starting a business in Algeria in 2026

Two public agencies fund new businesses in Algeria today. ANADE (formerly ANSEJ) supports project holders aged 18 to 55, for an investment of up to 10 million DA, through a personal contribution, an interest-free loan from the agency and a bank loan. ANGEM grants microcredit of up to 1 million DA to people with no income or with small, irregular income. Since January 2022, ANADE has managed the public business creation schemes and has taken over the CNAC files that had not yet been funded.

Registering a trademark with INAPI in Algeria: classes, examination, fees and renewal

A trademark is filed with INAPI (the Algerian National Institute of Industrial Property), which examines the application and then registers it for the classes of goods or services you designated. Registration lasts 10 years from the filing date and is renewed for 10-year periods. Since the 2026 finance law, the filing and publication fee is 15,000 DA, or 16,000 DA if you claim colours.

Auto-entrepreneur: your obligations after registration, from the card to deregistration

Once you receive the card, you have 30 days to file your declaration of existence with the tax office and get your NIF (tax number), then you register with CASNOS, the social security fund for the self-employed. Every year you declare your turnover, pay the 0.5% IFU (single flat-rate tax, at least 10,000 DA, paid by 30 June) and hand the ANAE (National Auto-Entrepreneur Agency) the tax office certificate showing that turnover. The card is valid for five years; the ANAE removes you from the register on request, after three years with no turnover declared, or after three years in a row above 5,000,000 DA.

Freelancing from Algeria: which status, and how to get paid by clients abroad

To work from Algeria for clients abroad, first take a status: auto-entrepreneur if your activity is on the ANAE (National Auto-Entrepreneur Agency) list (web developer, code 020101; graphic designer, 020201; adapter and translator, 070101), otherwise a sole trader on the trade register or an EURL (single-member limited company). Payment must then reach a foreign currency account at a bank in Algeria. Bank of Algeria Regulation No. 21-01 exempts digital services sold online from bank domiciliation, provided you declare the project to your bank before you are paid; since Regulation No. 26-02 of July 2026, the proceeds must come back within 120 days of the service.

Setting up a SARL or EURL: the checklist, desk by desk

To set up a SARL or EURL (limited company), you go in this order to the landlord or domiciliation centre, the CNRC for the name, the notary, the CNRC again for registration, the stamp maker, the tax office, CASNOS, the ONS and the bank, then CNAS if you hire. For each desk, this list gives the documents to bring and the document you take away, which the next step almost always asks for. In our experience, the whole process takes 4 to 5 weeks.

Registering as a sole trader: the checklist, desk by desk

To trade in your own name, you go in this order to the CNRC to enter the trade register, the tax office for the NIF and form G n°8, CASNOS, the ONS for the NIS, then the bank, plus CNAS if you hire. There are no articles of association, no share capital and no company name to reserve: the document that most often holds things up is proof of your premises. This list gives, desk by desk, the documents to bring and the document you take away.

Becoming a self-entrepreneur: the checklist, step by step

To become a self-entrepreneur (auto-entrepreneur), you register online in the national register kept by ANAE, which issues your card. Within 30 days of the card, you file the declaration of existence at the tax office to get your NIF. You also enrol with CASNOS within 10 days of starting the activity, and you can open a commercial bank account. There is no trade register, no articles and no notary: this list gives, step by step, the documents to prepare and what you get.

Tax incentives for new businesses in Algeria: Law 22-18, AAPI registration, startups, ANADE

A new business in Algeria can get tax relief from four sources: Law 22-18 on investment, the 'start-up' label, the ANADE and ANGEM support schemes, and a tax reduction for the Far South. The widest is Law 22-18. It removes customs duties and VAT on the project's purchases and registration duties on forming the company, then exempts corporate income tax (IBS) for 3 to 10 years, provided you register the investment with the Algerian Investment Promotion Agency (AAPI) before you carry it out. Trade, imports, businesses taxed under the flat-rate IFU regime and many services are excluded.

Setting up an import-export company in Algeria: the 2026 conditions

To import goods and resell them as they are, you need a company entered in the trade register under an import activity code, complying with the specifications of Executive Decree 05-458 as amended in 2021 (in particular on storage), and you must then have each operation domiciled with a bank. Since the Bank of Algeria instruction of 19 May 2026, the bank also checks your financial standing: the company's net assets must be at least equal to its share capital. Exporting follows lighter rules, centred on export earnings passing through the bank.

Conformity checks on imported products in Algeria: the file, deadlines, refusals and labelling

Goods you import go through a conformity check before customs clearance. The border inspection unit, part of the commerce services in charge of fraud control, examines your file (import declaration, trade register extract, invoice) and may inspect the goods and take samples. Within 48 hours, plus any laboratory time, it notifies you of an admission authorisation, a conditional admission so the goods can be brought into conformity, or a refusal with reasons. Refused goods are brought into conformity, redirected, re-exported or destroyed, at the importer's expense.

Selling online legally in Algeria: what Law 18-05 requires

To sell online in Algeria, you must be entered in the trade register (or the register of crafts and trades), publish a website or web page hosted in Algeria under the .com.dz extension, and file that domain name with the CNRC (National Trade Register Centre), which lists you in the national file of online sellers. This is what Law 18-05 of 10 May 2018 on electronic commerce requires. Each sale must then be preceded by a clear offer and an electronic contract confirmed by the buyer.

Tax and social security calendar for a small business in Algeria (2026)

Under the real regime, the G n°50 is filed and paid every month, within the first 20 days of the following month. Under the IFU (single flat-rate tax), the G n°12 is due by 30 June and the G n°12 bis by 20 January. The annual returns (G n°1, G n°4, G n°11, G n°29) are due by 30 April, and CASNOS expects your income declaration before 1 March and your contribution before 30 June.

NIF and NIS: what is the difference, and how do you get them?

The NIF (tax identification number) is issued by the tax administration (DGI): it identifies your business in every tax procedure. The NIS (statistical identification number) is issued by the National Office of Statistics (ONS): it records your business in the national statistical files. Both are requested right after registration with the trade register: first the NIF, with the G n°8 declaration of existence, then the NIS.

IFU or real regime: which tax regime applies to your business in Algeria?

A company (SARL, EURL, SPA) is always taxed under the real regime. An individual whose annual turnover does not exceed 8,000,000 DA falls under the IFU (single flat-rate tax), unless the activity is excluded or they opt for the real regime. The IFU is 5% of turnover for producing and selling goods and 12% for other activities, with a minimum of 30,000 DA a year.

VAT in Algeria for a small business: rates, who pays it and how to file

In Algeria, VAT applies at a standard rate of 19% and a reduced rate of 9% for the goods and services listed in article 23 of the turnover taxes code (CTCA). Every business under the real or simplified regime, which means every company, charges VAT, declares it and pays it over each month on the G n°50 return, no later than the 20th of the following month. An individual under the IFU (single flat-rate tax) is not liable: they neither charge VAT nor recover it.

IBS in Algeria: corporate income tax rates, instalments and the annual return

Corporate income tax (IBS, impôt sur les bénéfices des sociétés) is charged on the taxable profit of SARLs, EURLs, SPAs and other capital companies. The rate depends on the activity: 19% for producing goods, 23% for construction, public works, water engineering and tourism, and 26% for other activities, including trade and services. It is paid in three instalments (March, June, November), then a balance after the annual G n°4 return, due before 30 April.

Online tax filing on Jibaya'tic: who must file online and how to register

Since 1 January 2026, article 111 of the 2026 Finance Law requires taxpayers under the real profit regime or the simplified regime for non-commercial (liberal) professions, which includes every company, to file their tax returns online on Jibaya'tic, the DGI (tax administration) portal, wherever their tax office is equipped for online filing. For the IFU (single flat-rate tax), joining remains optional. To join, you hand in a file by appointment at the reception desk of your tax office, which gives you your access code in a sealed envelope when you file it.

Tax clearance in Algeria: what it is for and how to get it

A tax clearance (quitus fiscal) is proof that your business is up to date with its taxes; no official form bears that name. In practice, you are most often asked for a cleared tax roll extract (extrait de rôle apuré), showing no debt, issued by the tax collection office that holds your file, sometimes together with the certificate of existence (C20). You request it at your collection office, or online on Jibaya'tic if you have joined the portal.

Mandatory invoice details in Algeria (Executive Decree 05-468)

In Algeria, every sale of goods or services between businesses must be invoiced (Law No. 04-02 of 23 June 2004), and Executive Decree No. 05-468 of 10 December 2005 sets out what the invoice contains: the identity of the seller and the buyer (name or company name, address, legal form, activity, trade register number, NIS statistical number), the date and sequence number, the description and quantity sold, the unit price before tax, and the payment method and date. Selling without an invoice is punished by a fine equal to 80% of the amount that should have been invoiced.

Compulsory accounting in Algeria: what the law requires of your business

Every company (SARL, EURL, SPA) must keep full accounts under the financial accounting system (SCF), set up by law no. 07-11 of 25 November 2007 and applied since 2010, and draw up financial statements each year for its G n°4 return. The commercial code also requires a general journal and an inventory book. An individual under the IFU (single flat-rate tax) does not keep full accounts, but must be able to prove their purchases and sales.

CASNOS or CNAS: who pays into which fund when you start a business in Algeria?

CASNOS covers people who work on their own account: sole traders and craftspeople, liberal professions, the sole partner who manages an EURL, and the majority partner who manages an SARL. CNAS covers employees, and paid managers who do not hold a majority (minority manager, non-partner manager). A self-employed person pays 15% of declared income themselves, at least 43,200 DA in 2026; for an employee, the employer pays 34.5% of the salary, 9% of which is withheld from pay.

Hiring your first employee in Algeria: contract, CNAS, contributions and income tax

To hire your first employee, sign a written employment contract (the permanent contract, or CDI, is the rule; Law No. 90-11 allows fixed-term contracts in five cases only), declare your activity as an employer to CNAS (the social insurance fund for salaried workers) and register the employee within 10 days of hiring. Then, every quarter (or every month above 10 employees), you pay CNAS 34.5% of the salary, of which 9% is withheld from pay, and you pay the income tax (IRG) withheld from the salary to the tax office with form G n°50 (or G n°50 ter if you are under the IFU flat-rate regime).

Hiring a foreign employee in Algeria: work permit, temporary authorisation and residence

To employ a foreign worker, the employer applies for a work permit on their behalf to the wilaya (province) employment services, before any hiring. Law No. 81-10 of 11 July 1981 grants it only for a job that no Algerian worker can fill, to a foreigner qualified at least at technician level. The permit lasts 2 years at most, for a specific job and employer, and carries a 20,000 DA stamp duty; an assignment of 3 months or less falls under the temporary work authorisation.

Ending an employment contract in Algeria: resignation, dismissal, retirement and the papers you hand over

An employment contract ends in one of the nine cases listed in article 66 of Law No. 90-11: the end date of a fixed-term contract, resignation, dismissal, a workforce reduction, retirement, the business closing down, total incapacity for work, death, or the contract being void. In every case you give the employee a work certificate (art. 67), you pay what you still owe them, including untaken leave, and you report their departure to CNAS. A dismissal for serious misconduct requires written notice and a hearing with the employee (art. 73-2). Without that procedure, the court cancels it.

Bidding for a public contract in Algeria: the file, guarantees and appeals

To bid for a public contract in Algeria, you hand in three separate envelopes: an application file, a technical offer and a financial offer, following the buyer's specifications (cahier des charges). The general rules are in Law No. 23-12 of 5 August 2023. The detail, such as the contents of each envelope or the appeal deadlines, still comes from Presidential Decree No. 15-247 of 2015, which applies until the law's implementing texts are published. Your business must be on the trade register, or the crafts register, and up to date with its taxes and social security contributions.

Increasing the capital of a SARL or EURL in Algeria: decision, notary, register

To increase the capital of a SARL (limited liability company), the partners decide it at a meeting, by a majority of those holding at least three quarters of the capital (article 586 of the Commercial Code), unless the articles say otherwise; in an EURL, the sole partner decides alone. The decision is recorded before a notary in a deed amending the articles, published in the BOAL (Official Bulletin of Legal Notices), then entered in the trade register through an amendment request to the CNRC. No partner can be forced to increase their share.

Transferring SARL shares in Algeria: approval, notary, duties and register

Transferring shares (parts sociales) in a SARL to someone outside the company requires the consent of a majority of the partners representing at least three quarters of the capital (article 571 of the Commercial Code), after the plan has been notified to the company and to each partner. The transfer is made by authentic deed before a notary (article 572) and bears a registration duty, of 2.5% according to the DGI tax guide. Then come the update of the articles, a notice in the BOAL, the trade register amendment and, within a month, a new beneficial owners declaration.

Turning an EURL into a SARL or a SARL into an SPA in Algeria: when and how

An EURL (single-partner limited company) becomes a SARL as soon as a second partner joins the capital, through a share transfer or a capital increase: the company stays the same, its articles are updated before a notary, a notice is published in the BOAL and the trade register is amended. Moving from a SARL to a joint-stock company (SPA) is a real conversion: it requires at least seven shareholders (article 592 of the Commercial Code), capital of at least 1,000,000 DA, a board of directors and a statutory auditor. It becomes compulsory when a SARL exceeds fifty partners.

Closing or deregistering a business in Algeria: dissolution, liquidation, deregistration

To close a company, you first decide to dissolve it, then wind it up (sell the assets, pay the debts, draw up the closing accounts), and finally apply to the CNRC (trade register centre) to remove it from the trade register and report the closure to the tax office, CASNOS and, if there are employees, CNAS. For a sole trader, the path is shorter: stop trading and deregister. Until these steps are done, the obligations continue.