Starting a Business · Honduras
Starting a business in Honduras: foreigner's guide (2026)
Honduras shaded by its starting a business status
Honduras permits 100% foreign ownership in most sectors, with no general minimum capital requirement for foreigners, but company formation involves multiple sequential steps including notarized incorporation, Registro Mercantil registration, and tax ID issuance. A key practical constraint is that the SAR requires the company's legal representative to hold valid Honduran residency or nationality to obtain the mandatory tax identification number (RTN), meaning most foreign founders must secure residency or appoint a resident local representative before full activation.
Key points
Honduras's Investment Law (Decreto 51-2011) allows 100% foreign ownership as the general rule. Exceptions include sectors reserved for Hondurans or requiring majority national ownership: businesses capitalised below ~USD 6,300, commercial fishing, forestry, domestic air transport, local road transport, radio, and television broadcasting.
The Código de Comercio sets a statutory minimum of 25,000 Lempiras (~USD 1,000) for a Sociedad Anónima (SA), with at least 25% paid in at formation; a Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada (SRL) requires a minimum of 5,000 Lempiras (~USD 200) and at least two partners. No general government-mandated minimum applies to sole proprietorships.
SAR requires the company's legal representative to hold a valid Honduran residency card or be a Honduran national in order to obtain the Registro Tributario Nacional (RTN, tax ID). A foreign passport alone is insufficient; foreigners without residency must either obtain a residency/work permit first or appoint a Honduran-resident legal representative.
Key sequential steps are: (1) draft and notarise articles of incorporation before a Honduran notary; (2) register with the Registro Mercantil; (3) obtain the RTN from SAR (free, ~1 day); (4) purchase legalised accounting and minutes books (~USD 45); (5) register with the relevant Chamber of Commerce (~USD 77); (6) obtain a municipal Permiso de Operación. The Honduras eRegulations portal (EmprendeGuía) publishes official requirements, timelines, and fees for each step.
End-to-end formation typically takes 2–8 weeks when all documents are in order. Notarisation and Registro Mercantil filing account for most of the elapsed time; RTN issuance itself is same-day or next-day.
Honduran law requires that at least 90% of a company's workforce be Honduran nationals, and at least 85% of the total payroll must be paid to Honduran employees. These quotas apply across all foreign-invested companies and represent an ongoing operational constraint beyond the initial setup.
Honduras - other topics
Last verified 5/24/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Explore the full world map →