Annual Compliance in South Africa
The CIPC annual return, filed within 30 business days after the anniversary of the company's date of incorporation, with the statutory fee scaled by turnover — R100 below R1 million, R450 from R1m to under R10m, R2,000 from R10m to under R25m and R3,000 at R25 million or more, each rising if filed late. It cannot be filed at all unless the Beneficial Ownership declaration is up to date: CIPC has enforced a hard stop on its electronic platforms since 15 April 2024. Audited or independently reviewed annual financial statements, or a Financial Accountability Supplement, must be filed with it. A private company needs an audit only where the R5 million fiduciary-asset test, the public-interest-score tests (PIS 350, or PIS 100 with internally compiled statements), its MoI or a voluntary election require one; a public company's statements must always be audited. Two or more successive outstanding annual returns trigger automatic deregistration.
5–20 business days
ZAR
What we will need from you
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Audited or independently reviewed annual financial statements, or a Financial Accountability Supplement (FAS)
Which of the three applies turns on the audit and review thresholds in Companies Regulations 26 and 28. A company whose every shareholder is also a director is exempt from the independent review (Companies Act s.30(2A)).
Up-to-date Beneficial Ownership declaration
A hard precondition — CIPC blocks the annual-return filing on every electronic platform until the BO declaration is filed or updated.
Annual turnover for the financial year
Sets the statutory annual-return fee band.
Current company particulars — registered office, directors and contact details
Cost breakdown
Our fee and the government’s are always separate lines. Government fees are passed through at exactly what the authority charges — we add nothing to them.
| Annual return — turnover less than R1 millionone line of this schedule appliesVERIFIED from the official CIPC Annual Returns FAQ v5.0 (Companies Act 2008 fee table): 'Less than R1 million R100 / R150'. R150 applies where the return is filed more than 30 business days after the anniversary date. | ZAR 100Read at source on 2026-09-10 |
| Annual return — turnover R1 million to under R10 millionone line of this schedule appliesVERIFIED from the CIPC Annual Returns FAQ v5.0: 'R1 million but less than R10 million R450 / R600'. R600 if filed late. | ZAR 450Read at source on 2026-09-10 |
| Annual return — turnover R10 million to under R25 millionone line of this schedule appliesVERIFIED from the CIPC Annual Returns FAQ v5.0: 'R10 million but less than R25 million R2000 / R2500'. R2,500 if filed late. | ZAR 2,000Read at source on 2026-09-10 |
| Annual return — turnover R25 million or moreone line of this schedule appliesVERIFIED from the CIPC Annual Returns FAQ v5.0: 'R25 million or more R3000 / R4000'. R4,000 if filed late. | ZAR 3,000Read at source on 2026-09-10 |
| Beneficial Ownership declarationThe CIPC beneficial-ownership guidance we read does not publish a separate fee for the BO filing, so no amount is asserted. Confirm on the CIPC BO page at cipc.co.za/?p=20177. Filing is due within 10 business days of registration, thereafter on every change, and at minimum annually with the annual return. | Confirmed before payment |
| Re-instatement of a deregistered company (CoR40.5)only if it appliesVERIFIED from the CIPC Annual Returns FAQ v5.0: re-instatement on Form CoR40.5 is R200. Deregistration is triggered automatically once two or more successive annual returns are outstanding; CIPC emails notice of the intended deregistration first, and filing the outstanding returns (with the BO declaration and AFS/FAS) halts it. | ZAR 200Read at source on 2026-09-10 |
| Annual return — close corporation, turnover R0 to R50 milliononly if it appliesVERIFIED from the CIPC Annual Returns FAQ v5.0 (Close Corporations Act 1984 table): 'Between 0 to R50 million R100 / [penalty] R150'; R4,000 at R50 million and above, with the same R150 late penalty. No new close corporations may be registered since 1 May 2011, but existing CCs must still file, BO declaration included. A CC files from the first day of its anniversary month to the end of the following month. | ZAR 100Read at source on 2026-09-10 |
| Annual return — external company (branch)only if it appliesVERIFIED from the CIPC Annual Returns FAQ v5.0: external companies fall under the older Companies Act 1973 fee table, where public and external companies pay a flat R4,000 (the private/incorporated bands on that table are R450 below R10m, R2,500 from R10m to under R50m and R4,000 at R50m or more), with a R150 late penalty. External companies were brought into the annual-return regime in August 2003. | ZAR 4,000Read at source on 2026-09-10 |
| Comriq professional fee | Fixed fee within 1 business day |
These are the authority’s published lines. Which of them apply depends on your filing — a schedule by headcount, capital or entity type is one line, not all of them — and the applicable line is confirmed before payment, at cost.
How it runs
You will see these exact stages update in your client portal as we progress.
Financial Statements Ready
Audited or independently reviewed AFS prepared, or the Financial Accountability Supplement completed, depending on which threshold the company falls under.
Beneficial Ownership Updated
The BO declaration is filed or refreshed — CIPC blocks the annual return until it is current.
Annual Return Filed
Filed within 30 business days after the incorporation anniversary, with the turnover-scaled statutory fee and the AFS or FAS attached.
Ready to start?
This one is priced to your situation — most of what we do needs a local filing agent, so we scope it rather than guess. Tell us the specifics and we come back with a fixed quote and a confirmed timeline, within one business day.
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Verified September 2026
Requirements and statutory fees are set by Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and change without notice. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your engagement letter and quote are the binding documents.