Business & CAC Registration Guides

Not for a basic business name. Most applicants register a business name themselves on the CAC portal at cac.gov.nm without involving a lawyer. A lawyer or CAC-accredited agent becomes useful for limited companies with multiple shareholders, NGOs that need incorporated trustees, or structures with foreign directors that trigger additional due diligence. For solo proprietorships, the DIY route is straightforward.

Business names are usually issued within a few working days once the name is approved and payment clears. Limited companies take longer because of document review on MEMART and directors' particulars, typically a week to two weeks. Slow weeks at CAC and queried submissions extend the timeline. Watch the portal status, since the CAC dashboard shows where your application sits in the queue.

For CAC-registered companies and business names from 2020 onwards, the FIRS and JTB integration generates a TIN automatically and prints it on the CAC certificate. Older entities, NGOs and incorporated trustees often still need a separate TIN application at the FIRS office. Always verify on the JTB lookup at tin.jtb.gov.ng before assuming your TIN is active and ready for banking.

The most common reasons are name conflict with an existing entity, restricted words (federal, national, chartered, university) that need ministerial approval, and overly generic descriptions like 'Nigeria Business Ltd'. Run a CAC public search before paying, and prepare two or three alternative names. If your first choice was queried, the second pass usually clears within days once you address the specific reason on the CAC notification.

A business name is the simplest legal form for sole proprietors and small partnerships. It registers the trading name but does not create a separate legal entity, so the owner is personally liable for debts. A limited company is a separate legal entity with directors and shareholders, limited liability, the right to issue shares and more compliance obligations including annual returns and audited accounts. Choose limited company when you plan to raise investment or scale.

Business name registration is the cheapest CAC product, with the official fee in the low five-figure naira range, plus a small portal convenience charge. Limited companies cost significantly more, scaling with share capital. NGOs and incorporated trustees have their own fee schedule. The published fees sit on cac.gov.ng. Always pay through the official portal, since agents at CAC offices often inflate the headline cost.

Yes. CAC annual returns are a status filing, not a tax declaration. Every registered entity, including dormant business names and limited companies that made no revenue, has to file each year by the deadline. Late filing carries a penalty per year of delay, and persistent non-filing leads to strike-off. File even if the business is inactive, since reviving a struck-off entity is more expensive than filing.

No. NigeriaHowTo is independent and never collects CAC payment, MEMART, directors' details or any registration data. Every CAC filing has to be completed on cac.gov.ng directly or through a CAC-accredited agent. Anyone messaging users in our name and offering to 'process' a CAC registration is not us, and is not authorised by the CAC.