Consultation on Registering a Restaurant Business as a Sole Proprietorship
Your own coffee shop with the aroma of fresh pastries or a cozy little restaurant where guests enjoy a glass of wine… Sounds like a dream! But before you start creating a menu, you need to lay a solid legal foundation. And the very first stone in it is the correct business registration. The “BuhalteriO” team has prepared an honest consultation for you on how to open a cafe as a Sole Proprietor (SP) and not make fatal mistakes at the start.
Sole Proprietorship for a Cafe: Group 2 or 3 – The Key Choice for a Restaurateur
This is the most common trap for beginners. It seems that SP group 2 is the ideal option for a cafe or a small restaurant due to the lower tax. But this is not the case! SPs in group 2 are strictly forbidden from selling excisable goods, which includes any alcohol other than table wine and beer. That is, if your menu includes something stronger, group 2 is not suitable for you. In addition, it prohibits providing services to legal entities, which makes it impossible to hold corporate events or business lunches for companies. Therefore, for most establishments, the only correct choice on the simplified system is SP group 3.
Registering a Sole Proprietorship for a Restaurant: 5 Main Steps to Get Started
To prevent your dream from crashing on the rocks of bureaucracy, it’s important to act consistently. The process of registering a restaurant business is much more complicated than for a regular store and consists of several mandatory stages.
Here is your basic checklist:
- Register the Sole Proprietorship. Submit an application online through “Diia” or offline at a TsNAP (Administrative Services Center).
- Choose the correct KVEDs (business activity codes). Your main code is 56.10 “Restaurant and mobile food service activities”. If you plan to sell alcohol for on-site consumption, you will also need 56.30 “Beverage serving activities”.
- Choose a taxation system. As we have already found out, in 95% of cases for a full-fledged establishment, this will be the 3rd group of the single tax or the general system.
- Obtain licenses. A separate license is required for the sale of any alcohol (including beer) and tobacco products. Its cost depends on the place of business.
- Register an RRO/PRRO (cash register). Any transactions in a cafe or restaurant (cash, card) require the use of a cash register.
Completing these stages is the legal minimum to get started. Each of them has many nuances, so it is important not just to “do it,” but to “do it right” the first time.
Why Does a Consultation on SP Registration Save You Money?
It may seem that all the information can be found on the internet and you can do everything yourself. But the cost of a mistake in the restaurant business is too high – it includes fines of tens of thousands of hryvnias and the risk of losing your license.
Here is what you get by working with us:
- Protection from mistakes. We guarantee that you will choose the right SP group and KVEDs that will match your business model.
- Time savings. We take care of all the paperwork: from registering the SP to submitting applications for licenses.
- Financial transparency. We will help you set up the cash register and keep records so that the tax authorities never have any questions for you.
We don’t just register an SP for a cafe; we help you build a sustainable business that will operate legally and profitably from day one.
Your Dream of the Perfect Establishment Deserves a Perfect Start!
Don’t risk your future business by relying on advice from forums. A one-hour consultation with an expert can save you months of time and thousands of hryvnias in the future.
Contact “BuhalteriO” today, and we will help turn your dream into a successful and legally protected restaurant business