Resource Guide

Afghanistan Business Registration Procedures for U.S companies

How do I register my Company in Afghanistan as a foreign Business?

A company must first be licensed and in good standing in the U.S to be licensed as a U.S/foreign company in Afghanistan. You must also have a physical address, telephone # and contact for your office in Afghanistan. You may begin by having notarized a copy of your U.S Business License, (if not incorporated) Articles of Incorporation (if incorporated) and any powers of Attorney and have each of these documents attested by your state and Federal Government authorities in the U.S.
Have any Powers of Attorney translated into Dari (Farsi) or Pashto and include along with your original U.S attested documents (from Step 1 above) to the Consulate Section of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington D.C for attestation of the final set of documents by the Afghan Government in the U.S.
Take the final set of Consulate attested documents along with your company’s IRS tax ID # and a copy of U.S passports of key Principals of the company (President, V.P) to the U.S Embassy in Kabul (Economic Section) for issuance of a referral letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan in Kabul.
Bring your U.S Embassy referral letter together with all documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul (the Trade, Transit and Investment Directorate) who will the issue a final referral letter either to the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) or the Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoCI) depending on the nature of your work.
If your company deals with investment-related sectors including Services, Consulting, Logistics, Transport (see www.aisa.org.af for full list and information), take all documents from above steps together with the license application to AISA to obtain an “Investment License” . In order to obtain a “Trade” Business License (for Import/ Export activities) follow all the above stated procedures except that you should go to the MoCI Business Licensing Department for final processing of your license. In some cases you will need to register in both places, depending on the nature of your company’s work.

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Key contacts for Business Licensing in Afghanistan:

U.S Embassy in Kabul – Economic Section: Website: http://kabul.usembassy.gov/econsection.htlm
Telephone: 0093 (0) 700-10-8001
Email: [email protected]
Address: Embassy of the United States – Kabul, Afghanistan

Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Trade, Transit and Investment Directorate: Website: www.mfa.gov.af
Telephone: +93(0)20-210-0377
Address: Malik Azghar Road, Kabul, Afghanistan
Email: [email protected]

Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA): Website: www.aisa.af.org
Telephone: 0093(0) 20-210-3404
Address: Opposite Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul, Afghanistan
Email: [email protected]

Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI): Website: www.commerce.gov.af
Telephone: 0093-(0)700-225-718
Address: Darul Aman Road, Karte Se, Kabul, Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Tax Requirements:

Afghanistan's Full Tax Laws

Rental Tax Withholding: When paying a monthly rent of 0 Afs to 10,000 Afs, then you should withhold 0% and file within 15 days after the end of month in which payment was made.
When paying a monthly rent of 10,000 Afs to 100,000 Afs, then you should withhold 10% flat and file within 15 days after end of month in which payment was made.
When paying a monthly rent of over 100,000, then you should withhold 15% flat and file within 15 days after end of month in which payment was made.

Employee Tax Withholding: When paying a monthly salary of 0 Afs to 5,000 Afs, then you should withhold 0% and file within 10 days after the end of the month in which the payment was made.
When paying a monthly salary of 5,000 Afs to 12,500 Afs, then you should withhold 2% of amount over 5,000 afs and file within 10 days after the end of the month in which the payment was made.
When paying a monthly salary of 12,500 Afs to 100,000 Afs, then you should withhold 150 Afs + 10% over 12,500 Afs and file within 10 days after the end of the month in which the payment was made.
When paying a monthly salary of over 100,000 Afs, then you should withhold 8,900 Af+ 20% over 100,000 Afs and file within 10 days after the end of the month in which the payment was made.

Contractor Tax Withholding: When paying a sub-contractor under 500,000 Afs per year, then you should withhold 0 Afs and file within 10 days after the end of the month in which payment was made.
When paying a sub-contractor over 500,000 Afs per year to a company with an AISA license, then you should withhold 2% flat and file within 10 days after the end of the month in which payment was made.
When paying a sub-contractor over 500,000 Afs per year to a company without an ASIA license, then you should withhold 7% flat and file within 10 days after the end of the month in which payment was made.

Resource Guide

Afghanistan Business Registration Procedures for U.S companies

Key contacts for Business Licensing in Afghanistan:

Afghanistan's Tax Requirements:

For all further inquiries please contact: