South Africa

Company formation and compliance in South Africa.

Register a (Pty) Ltd with the CIPC for R175 including the compulsory R50 name reservation, or R125 with no reserved name — a single person can be sole shareholder and sole director, 100% foreign shareholding is permitted and there is no residency requirement, which makes the wholly-owned subsidiary the standard foreign-entry vehicle. A foreign company trading here directly registers as an external company (branch) within 20 business days of beginning business. Beneficial ownership must be filed with CIPC within 10 business days of registration, and thereafter on every change and annually with the annual return — CIPC blocks the annual return until it is current. Corporate income tax is 27%, VAT is 15% with compulsory registration above R2.3 million of taxable supplies in any 12 months (from 1 April 2026) and voluntary registration from R120,000, and dividends tax is 20%. CIPC and SARS transact in English.