ANNUAL RETURNS WITH CIPC
All companies (including external companies) and close corporations are required by law to file their annual returns with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) on an annual basis, within a prescribed time period. The purpose of the lodging of such annual returns is to confirm whether a registered business is still in business/trading, or if it will be in business in the near future. Therefore, if annual returns are not filed within the prescribed time period, the assumption is that the business is inactive, and as such CIPC will start the deregistration process to remove the business from its active records. The legal effect of the deregistration process is that the juristic personality is withdrawn, and the company or close corporation ceases to exist.
Companies and close corporations are required to file annual returns annually, within a prescribed period of time. Companies are required to file annual returns within 30 business days after the anniversary date of its incorporation. Close corporations are required to file annual returns within the anniversary month of its incorporation up until the month thereafter.
Fees for companies:
| Annual turnover | Filing within 30 business days
after anniversary date |
Filing more than 30 business
days after anniversary date |
| Less than R1 million | R100 | R150 |
| R1 million but less than R10 million | R450 | R600 |
| R10 million but less than R25 million | R2000 | R2500 |
| R25 million or more | R3000 | R4000 |
| Reinstatement Application (Form CoR40.5) | R200 | |
Fees for close corporations:
| Annual Turnover | Filing within 2 months from
beginning of anniversary month |
Penalty for each late lodgement |
| Between 0 to R50 million | R100 | R150 |
| R50 million and above | R4000 | R150 |
| Reinstatement Application | R200 | |
The company or close corporation may be reinstated after it was deregistered by the lodging of a Notice of Reinstatement (form CoR40.5). The request for reinstatement may be submitted by
- the company or close corporation,
- its duly authorized representative or
- any third party.
Upon the processing of the reinstatement application, the legal persona is reinstated, and all outstanding annual returns must be filed for the reinstatement to become effective.