Starting a business in Cuba

The real journey — from choosing a legal vehicle to constituting the company, getting permits, importing, and understanding the US-embargo dimension. This explains the process and points to official sources. CubaAtlas does not broker, sell, or advise. This is not legal advice.

Checked against primary sources; new Cuba-related US legal notices are archived weekly. This guide was last reviewed 2026-07-26. For changes as they break, see the legal & sanctions watch on Cuba Now.

1 · Forms of business

The vehicle decides everything downstream — who can own it, how it’s taxed, and how it imports.

2 · The step-by-step journey

Timelines below are legal ceilings, not observed reality — Cuban administrative processes routinely run longer, and the slowest points are noted.

A private MIPYME (Cuban-resident founders)

Everything runs through the MEP’s Plataforma de Actores Económicos (PAE).

1. 1

   Project & application (online)

   MEP · Plataforma de Actores Económicos (PAE)

   Founders' data, business plan (proyecto), statutes, any trademark cert, and a land-use opinion where required. The name is declared here. Reviewed by the municipal administration (CAM). Legal max ~30 business days — the biggest bottleneck.

2. 2

   Sight deposit account

   BANDEC / BPA / Banco Metropolitano

   Founders deposit the capital in CUP; the bank issues a deposit certificate. ~5 business days.

3. 3

   Notarial incorporation deed

   State notary (MINJUS)

   The escritura pública de constitución is signed before a state notary. Legal max ~30 business days — the second bottleneck (notary scheduling).

4. 4

   Registro Mercantil inscription

   MINJUS

   The inscription certificate confers legal personality on the company. ~15–30 business days.

5. 5

   Tax registration

   ONAT — Registro de Contribuyentes

   The company is entered in the taxpayer registry and assigned its NIT. ~5–10 business days.

6. 6

   Fiscal account & statistics

   Bank + ONEI

   Open the current/fiscal account and transfer capital; statistics registration with ONEI is automatic.

7. 7

   Sector & commercial licences

   MINCIN (RCC) + sector bodies

   Wholesale/retail/food-service register in the Registro Central Comercial (MINCIN); other sector and municipal licences as applicable.

A foreign-investment company (Law 118)

Channelled through MINCEX’s Ventanilla Única (VUINEX). The uncodified pre-submission phase is where most time is spent.

1. 1

   Negotiation & proposal

   Investor + Cuban partner / sponsoring organism

   Assemble the documentation (Decreto 325/2014). Recent reform removed the mandatory feasibility study as a filing prerequisite. This pre-submission phase has NO published deadline and is where most real time is spent — often 1–2+ years.

2. 2

   Submission to MINCEX

   MINCEX · VUINEX

   File through the Ventanilla Única de Inversión Extranjera.

3. 3

   Evaluation

   Comisión de Evaluación de Negocios

   The commission issues criteria — about 7 business days; roughly 7 more for the applicant to adjust if asked.

4. 4

   Authorization

   Consejo de Ministros / Consejo de Estado (or delegated minister)

   Final authorization by the top authority, or a delegated minister by size/sector. Legal max ~60 natural days.

5. 5

   Constitution & registration

   Notary → Registro Mercantil → ONAT → bank

   Notarial escritura de constitución, then Registro Mercantil (legal personality), tax registration, and a bank account (foreign-investment entities typically bank with BFI or another authorized foreign-currency bank).

3 · Permits & licences by area

4 · Imports & exports

Private actors (MIPYMES, CNA, TCP) cannot import or export directly. They must contract an authorized state trading enterprise (empresa importadora-exportadora / comercializadora) that holds the “facultad de importar/exportar” granted by MINCEX. The state keeps its foreign-trade monopoly.

• •Governing rule: Resolución 166/2024 (MINCEX) replaced the 2020 opening; it tightened rules (payment from Cuban bank accounts, declaration of fund origin, tax-compliance certificate).
• •Mechanism: the private firm and the state entity sign a contrato de comisión (one-off) or agencia/mandato (ongoing); the state entity acts on the firm's behalf, within its registered activity.
• •Cost: state intermediaries add a commercial margin (~3% of nominal value is cited by economists) plus duties/fees — verify against the MFP resolutions.
• •Customs (Aduana General de la República): a commercial Arancel de Aduanas for legal entities took effect 1 Jan 2022 on the Harmonized System; general ad valorem rate ~10% for most goods.
• •Much MIPYME “importing” is actually buying goods already in Cuba on consignment / in bonded warehouses; couriers and postal shipments are heavily used.
• •Personas naturales get repeatedly-extended MFP duty exemptions on non-commercial food, medicine and hygiene imports — each extension is a separate resolution with an end-date; check the current one.
• •The government has reaffirmed it will not license private import-export companies, allowing only limited discretionary exceptions. A 2024 wave of licence revocations hit STATE enterprises, not private ones — a widely mis-reported point.

5 · The US embargo dimension

General information, not legal advice. This whole section is time-sensitive: US policy swings with each administration. Confirm every point at the live primary source before relying on it.

• •The embargo runs through the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (31 CFR Part 515), administered by OFAC. The default is prohibition: essentially all transactions involving Cuba by persons subject to US jurisdiction are barred unless authorized.
• •Travel is allowed only within 12 categories (31 CFR 515.560) — tourism remains illegal by statute. These authorize travel, not general trade or investment.
• •“Support for the Cuban People” (31 CFR 515.574) authorizes travel and transactions that strengthen the independent private sector (casas particulares, paladares, cuentapropistas) under strict conditions — it does not authorize funding the state/military economy.
• •The State Department's Cuba Restricted List bars direct dealings with military-linked entities, notably GAESA and its holdings (CIMEX, Gaviota…). A Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List names hotels US persons may not pay to lodge at.
• •Most direct US investment is barred: the CACR give no general license for equity investment or general trade, and the Helms-Burton Act (1996) codified the embargo and — via Title III — exposes those who “traffic” in property confiscated after 1959 to US lawsuits.
• •As of this writing Cuba remains a designated State Sponsor of Terrorism (a Jan-2025 move to rescind was reversed). Confirm current SSOT, Restricted-List and Title-III posture at the live pages.

6 · Professional services

Foreign-facing legal work is state-dominated. Verify any firm’s details at its official site before engaging.

7 · Official sources

Cuban government sites are frequently slow or intermittently offline — expect timeouts and retry.

Compiled from primary and official sources (Gaceta Oficial, MINCEX, MEP, MTSS, MFP, Aduana, US Treasury/State), regulatory picture as of 2026. Information only and not legal advice — CubaAtlas does not broker, sell, or represent any party. Verify against the live sources before acting.