Start something
Get a business licence in
Who needs one in Jersey, who is exempt, how long it takes — and the three things it sets going.
Most businesses in Jersey need a business licence to run and to employ anyone. A company applies once it is incorporated.
Granting it starts three things: a call about your Social Security, your employer registration if you will employ staff, and your manpower returns.
- 1 Applying · 25%
- 2 Straight after · 50%
- 1 Every year, and every change · 25%
- 4 You · 100%
Apply for a business licenceYouthe Business HubAbout five working days
Once the company is incorporated, most businesses need a business licence to run and to employ anyone. You do not need one if nobody is paid at all, or the company has a single member working under eight hours a week (with the right residential status). Applying also registers you for a call about your Social Security, and, if you will employ staff, the employer registration is emailed once it is granted.
Why now: A limited company must be incorporated before it can apply.
Choose how you pay Social SecurityYouSocial SecurityEvery month, by direct debit
For Social Security, a company’s owners, shareholders and directors count as self-employed and pay Class 2 contributions: both the employee’s share (6%) and the employer’s (6.5%) come from your income, billed every month. There are several ways to pay, and you must apply for the one you want — otherwise you are billed at the maximum rate. For a company, Social Security contacts you once the licence is granted.
Why now: They contact you after the licence; choose before the first bill.
Register as an employerYouRevenue JerseyEvery month
If the licence application said you will employ staff, the registration for paying their income tax (ITIS) and Social Security arrives by email from Revenue Jersey once the licence is granted. From then on, the combined employer return — tax, Social Security and the manpower return together — is filed and paid every month, through online services.
Manpower returnsYouthe Government of JerseyBy 31 January and 31 July
Every business with a licence must make manpower returns, and they cost nothing. With no staff, submit the online form twice a year — by 31 January and 31 July, showing the business on 31 December and 30 June. Once you employ anyone, it goes on the combined employer return instead, every month.
What you do not need
- A licence, if nobody is paid at all.
- A licence, for a sole trader or one-member company working under eight hours a week, with the right residential status.
Keep going
- Start a companyForm a limited company: who it needs, its office, its rules, the application — and everything that follows, in order.Open
- Sole trader or company?What each costs you in tax, what each costs to run, and the one question that usually decides it: will you keep money in the business?Open
- Work for yourselfTrade as yourself, without a company: what you register, and what you are exempt from.Open
- All of it, in orderPlan my start draws every journey you need, for your place, with your costs.Plan my start
Words in this journey:DirectorMemberCertificate of incorporationBusiness licenceManpower returnClass 2 contributionsITISCombined employer returnSole traderLimited company