Registering a company is the cheapest thing you will do all year. The recurring cost is annual returns, beneficial ownership, annual financial statements, an income tax return and two provisional tax payments — every year, whether or not the company trades. Add VAT, PAYE, UIF or COIDA registration where you actually need them, and a realistic first year runs well beyond the registration fee most cost comparisons quote.
Nobody is hiding this. It just never appears in the same place as the registration price.
What you pay once, at the start
| Item | When you need it |
|---|---|
| Company registration — R880 | Always |
| Name reservation | Only if you want a specific name rather than the registration number |
| SARS registered representative — R499 | Effectively always. Without it you cannot transact on eFiling |
| Business bank account — free | Always |
| Share certificates — free | Always, and almost nobody does it |
| B-BBEE affidavit — free | If you sell to corporates or tender |
The registered representative is the one people skip, and it is the one that stops everything. An income tax number issued at registration is not much use if nobody is authorised to act for the company. See what is a SARS registered representative.
What you pay every year, forever
This is the part the registration price does not tell you.
| Obligation | Frequency | Smartbook price |
|---|---|---|
| CIPC annual return | Annually, in your anniversary month | R299 |
| Beneficial ownership | Annually, plus within 10 business days of any change | R499 |
| Annual financial statements | Annually | Part of an accounting plan |
| Income tax return (ITR14) | Annually | From R250 |
| Provisional tax | Twice a year | From R250 per submission |
All five apply to a dormant company too. A company that never traded still files annual returns, beneficial ownership and a nil income tax return. Dormancy is not an exemption — it is just a company with no income and the same obligations. See what is your company's anniversary date.
What you pay only if it applies
| Registration | Price | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| VAT | R2 750 | Compulsory above the threshold, or voluntary |
| PAYE | R950 | Within 21 business days of becoming an employer |
| UIF | R1 500 | If you employ anyone |
| COID | R1 750 | Every employer with one or more employees |
| Letter of good standing | R1 750 | Tenders, main contractors, site access |
| CSD registration | R490 | If you will tender |
| CIDB registration | R1 750 | Construction contractors bidding publicly |
| Tax clearance (TCS PIN) | R450 | Tenders, credit, supplier onboarding |
| Trade mark | R3 500 | If the brand carries commercial value |
| Import/export licence | R2 500 | If you import or export commercially |
A business that employs three people and wants to tender is looking at PAYE, UIF, COID, a letter of good standing and CSD before it invoices anything. That is a meaningful setup cost, and it is not optional.
Three worked pictures
The one-person consultancy, not VAT registered, no staff
Registration, registered representative, then annually: annual return, beneficial ownership, financial statements, income tax return, two provisional submissions.
This is the floor. There is no cheaper compliant company. And at low profit this floor can exceed the tax saving from incorporating at all — which is the honest argument for staying a sole proprietor a while longer. See at what profit does a company beat a sole proprietor.
The small employer, three staff, VAT registered
Everything above, plus VAT registration, PAYE, UIF and COID at setup — then monthly EMP201 submissions, bi-monthly VAT returns, and the EMP501 reconciliations twice a year.
The recurring workload steps up sharply here. This is the point at which a monthly accounting plan usually costs less than doing it badly.
The contractor bidding for public work
Everything in the previous picture, plus CSD registration, CIDB registration, a letter of good standing renewed annually, a tax clearance PIN, and a B-BBEE affidavit.
And the compliance has to stay clean continuously, not just on the day you submit — because tender screening checks CIPC status, tax compliance status and CSD in real time. See what is CIDB registration.
The costs that only appear when something goes wrong
These are the expensive ones, and all of them are avoidable.
Late annual returns. Fees escalate, and other CIPC filings get blocked while returns are outstanding — so a simple director change becomes a multi-week problem.
Reinstatement — R490 plus months. Where returns go unfiled long enough, the company is deregistered. Reinstating means a newspaper advertisement running at least 21 days, a deeds search, an evidence pack, and every arrear return. Meanwhile the bank account is frozen. See how to reinstate a deregistered company.
SARS penalties. Administrative penalties for outstanding returns recur monthly until filed.
Reconstructing records. Catching up two years of bookkeeping costs several times what doing it monthly would have.
A rushed year end. Financial statements prepared under deadline pressure cost more and are worth less.
Where the money is actually saved
Do the free things. Share certificates, B-BBEE affidavit, company profile. They cost nothing and their absence stalls bank applications and supplier onboarding.
File on time. Every escalating fee in this article is a late fee.
Do not register for what you do not need. Voluntary VAT registration, in particular, is frequently a mistake for a business selling to consumers.
Keep records monthly. The single largest avoidable cost in a small company is reconstruction.
Get the structure right first. A trust or holding company added without thought costs Small Business Corporation status — roughly R91,030 a year at R550,000 of profit. That dwarfs every filing fee on this page. See what is a Small Business Corporation.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to register a company in South Africa? Smartbook registers a company for R880. That is the entity only — the recurring compliance cost of annual returns, beneficial ownership, financial statements, an income tax return and two provisional tax payments is separate and applies every year.
What are the annual costs of running a company? At minimum a CIPC annual return (R299), beneficial ownership (R499), annual financial statements, an income tax return (from R250) and two provisional tax submissions. VAT, PAYE, UIF and COID add to this where they apply.
Does a dormant company still cost money every year? Yes. A dormant company files annual returns, beneficial ownership and a nil income tax return. Dormancy is not an exemption from compliance, only from income.
What does it cost to get tender-ready? Beyond company registration and the annual compliance, expect CSD registration (R490), COID registration (R1 750), a letter of good standing (R1 750, renewed annually), a tax clearance PIN (R450) and a B-BBEE affidavit, plus CIDB registration (R1 750) for construction.
What is the most expensive compliance mistake? Letting annual returns lapse until the company is deregistered. Reinstatement requires a 21-day newspaper advertisement, a deeds search, an evidence pack and every arrear return, while the bank account is frozen throughout.
Is it cheaper to stay a sole proprietor? On compliance, always — a sole proprietor has no annual returns, no beneficial ownership and no formal financial statements. At low profit that saving can exceed the tax benefit of incorporating.
Which company costs are unavoidable? The CIPC annual return, beneficial ownership, annual financial statements, the income tax return and two provisional tax submissions. Everything else depends on whether you employ people, register for VAT, or tender.
Budget for year two, not just day one
Almost every small company budgets the registration fee and nothing else. The registration is R880. The compliance is every year after that, and it does not stop because the company stopped trading.
Smartbook handles the registration and the annual cycle at fixed prices, so the recurring cost is a number you know in advance rather than one you discover.
Last reviewed: 1 August 2026. Written by the Smartbook team — SAIPA and SAICA accredited, SARS registered tax practitioners. Prices shown are Smartbook's published prices at the date of review and exclude any CIPC or SARS statutory fees payable — confirm current pricing at smartbookie.co.za. General guidance, not advice on your circumstances.
Primary sources: CIPC · SARS · Companies Act 71 of 2008