🚀 Open in 30 Days: Start a Business in Jamaica · Lesson 2 of 8 · free
What to register in Jamaica, where (COJ, TAJ), in what order, roughly what it costs, and the one form that does most of it at once.
⏱ About 15 minutes · read it, then do the "Do this now" steps before the next lesson
Search the name on Google, Instagram and the Companies Office of Jamaica site before you fall in love with it. You want the name, the Instagram handle and ideally the .com or .com.jm together. Keep it short, spellable over the phone, and include what you do if the name does not say it ("Kerry's Kitchen" beats "KK Enterprises").
For a sole trader or partnership you register a business name with the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ). It is a short form, a government fee of a few thousand Jamaican dollars (check the current fee on the COJ site), and you get a certificate. The COJ "Super Form" lets you register the business name and apply for your TRN, NIS and other numbers in one go — use it. A limited company costs more and is rarely needed on day one; most Jamaican businesses start as a registered business name and incorporate later.
Your business needs a TRN (Tax Administration Jamaica). Small businesses under the GCT threshold (currently J$10 million a year — confirm with TAJ) do not charge GCT, but you still file income tax. Keep every receipt and every sale in one place from day one; lesson 3 shows how.
Have the name checked, the registration submitted and the TRN applied for by day 7. Everything else waits on these papers.
List the business free in the Jamaica Business Directory the day you open — reviewed by a person, live in a day. When the first ten are paying, a turnkey website is J$35,000 to build, with the software, hosting and support on a plan from J$4,500/mo.