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CIPC annual returns: a guide for accounting practices

CIPC annual returns are the yearly filing every company and close corporation on South Africa's register owes the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, with a fee set by turnover. This guide from Arke Technologies in Johannesburg covers due dates, fees, login, filing, payment and BO filing, and how AtlasOS tracks every client's date.

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CIPC annual returns: a guide for accounting practices

Last reviewed: September 2026, 13 min read

CIPC annual returns are the yearly filing every company and close corporation on South Africa's register owes the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, with a fee set by turnover. This guide from Arke Technologies in Johannesburg covers due dates, fees, login, filing, payment and BO filing, and how AtlasOS tracks every client's date.

Last reviewed: September 2026, 13 min read

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What are CIPC annual returns?

Last reviewed: September 2026.

An annual return is a statutory filing under the Companies Act and the Close Corporations Act. Every company, including an external company, and every close corporation must file one with the CIPC each year, within a set period. It tells the CIPC the business is still operating and keeps its record current (CIPC, Annual Returns FAQ, version 5.0).

CIPC annual returns are not tax returns. A tax return goes to SARS and works out tax on income; an annual return goes to the CIPC and keeps the entity on the register. Filing one does not satisfy the other. A dormant company or close corporation must still file and pay, because the law makes no distinction between active and inactive entities.

Annual returns at CIPC can only be filed electronically: on the CIPC's e-Services platform, on BizPortal or at a CIPC self-service centre.

For an accounting practice the work is dozens or hundreds of returns, each with its own anniversary. This guide sets out the rules, then shows how to run them as a routine in AtlasOS, the operating system for professional services firms that Arke Technologies built and owns (visit the AtlasOS site  (opens atlaspractice.app)).

Two advisers review a document together beside a laptop.

CIPC annual returns due date

The due date depends on the type of entity and the date it was registered:

EntityWhen the annual return falls dueWhen it becomes late
Company, including an external companyOn the anniversary of its registration dateMore than 30 business days after the anniversary
Close corporationOn the first day of its anniversary monthAfter the end of the month following the anniversary month

The CIPC emails or texts reminders to directors and members, but only when it holds their correct contact details. If those have changed, update them with the CIPC, or the reminder and any later deregistration notice will go nowhere.

CIPC annual returns fees

The fee depends on whether the entity is a company or a close corporation, its annual turnover and whether it files on time. These are the CIPC annual returns fees in CIPC's published Annual Returns FAQ (version 5.0), under table CR 2B of the Companies Regulations, 2011.

Companies (returns due on or after 1 May 2011)

Annual turnoverFiled within 30 business days of the anniversaryFiled later
Less than R1 millionR100R150
R1 million to less than R10 millionR450R600
R10 million to less than R25 millionR2,000R2,500
R25 million or moreR3,000R4,000

Close corporations

Annual turnoverFiled within the windowPenalty for each late lodgement
Up to R50 millionR100R150
R50 million and aboveR4,000R150

A return that fell due before 1 May 2011 uses the older Companies Act, 1973 fee table, and a reinstatement application (form CoR40.5) costs R200. The fees are set in law: the CIPC cannot waive them, grant exemptions or accept instalments, and a filing submitted without its fee is invalid and must be filed again. The system calculates the amount as you file, so confirm it on screen before paying.

How to calculate annual returns at CIPC

To calculate CIPC annual returns, start from turnover. The entity must use its latest approved financial statements, and section 223 of the Companies Act, read with regulation 164, defines turnover and how to calculate it. Match that figure to the fee band above, then confirm it on the CIPC's Annual Return Calculator.

The calculator sits beside the filing service on e-Services. Enter the enterprise number, validate it, type the turnover (ignoring anything after the decimal point) and choose Calculate Outstanding Amount to see the outstanding years and the amount due. If the entity has filed financial statements through iXBRL, the CIPC checks your turnover against the revenue it holds and flags a mismatch.

A wrong turnover cannot be edited once the return is filed. Instead, the CIPC issues a credit note (turnover overstated) or a debit note (turnover understated) to the customer code that was used. Log the request through the CIPC's online enquiry system with the financial statements for that year, the entity's name, registration number and return year, the reason for the error, a certified ID copy of the customer code's owner and a letter authorising the adjustment.

What to file with the annual return: BO filing, AFS or FAS, and the compliance checklist

An annual return is no longer a single form. The CIPC expects three items to go with it:

  • Beneficial ownership declaration (BO filing). Since 1 July 2024 a company or close corporation cannot finish its annual return until its latest beneficial ownership declaration, filed in the same calendar year, is on record. BO filing can be done within the annual return service or beforehand through the stand-alone service on e-Services. New entities file within 10 business days of incorporation, and changes within 10 business days of happening (CIPC, Beneficial Ownership). A practice filing for a client uploads the client's signed, written mandate.
  • Financial statements, or the financial accountability supplement. A company whose statements must be audited, such as a public or state-owned company or one whose public interest score reaches the audit threshold, files its audited annual financial statements (AFS) through iXBRL. Entities not required to file AFS, and not filing audited or reviewed statements voluntarily, file a financial accountability supplement (FAS).
  • Compliance checklist. The CIPC lists a compliance checklist among the items submitted with an annual return.

Firms that audit or review those statements can read how AtlasOS supports audit and assurance firms.

How to file annual returns on CIPC, step by step

The CIPC annual returns submission happens online. You need a registered CIPC customer code, and the filing must be done by the entity itself or by a representative it has authorised. To file annual returns on CIPC:

  1. Log in

    Go to www.cipc.co.za and open e-Services (under Online Transacting), or go straight to annualreturns.cipc.co.za and choose Customer Login. The CIPC annual returns login asks for your customer code, your password and a security code (both case-sensitive), and you accept the CIPC terms and conditions.

  2. Open the service

    Choose Transact, then File Annual Returns.

  3. Find the entity

    Type the registration number (year/sequence/type) in the Enterprise Number field, choose Validate and confirm the entity shown is the right one.

  4. Calculate the fee

    Enter the turnover and choose Calculate Outstanding Amount to see each outstanding year and its fee.

  5. Bring the BO declaration up to date

    If the latest declaration is missing, the system sends you to the beneficial ownership service. File it, then return to the annual return.

  6. Submit AFS or FAS

    If no statements are on record for the year, choose Capture AFS to file audited statements through iXBRL, or Capture FAS to complete the financial accountability supplement, then calculate the fee again.

  7. Complete the return

    Fill in the required fields and choose Add To Cart. To file for several entities with a single payment, choose Add Annual Return and repeat the steps.

  8. Pay

    Choose Card as the payment option (or Customer Balance, if the customer code holds enough money), enter the card details, accept the payment terms and approve the payment with the one-time PIN from your bank.

  9. Keep the certificate

    The CIPC confirms the filing and emails the annual return filing certificate to the address on the customer code. You can reprint it later under Re-Print AR Certificates.

Sources: CIPC, Step-by-step guide: calculating and filing annual returns (versions 4.0 and 5.0); CIPC, Annual Returns FAQ (version 5.0). The same filing annual returns CIPC process applies whether the return is on time or overdue; only the fee changes.

How to pay CIPC annual returns online

  • Card. Since 5 December 2022, debit or credit card has been the CIPC's payment method for transactions on its electronic platforms. You approve the payment with the one-time PIN your bank sends.
  • Customer balance. The CIPC's current step-by-step guide (version 5.0) also offers payment from money already held in the customer code; if the balance is too low, only the card option appears.
  • Deposits. If you pay money into the CIPC's bank account, put the customer code in the beneficiary reference field, or the CIPC cannot allocate the funds (CIPC Customer Notice 38 of 2024). Take the CIPC's banking details for annual returns only from the CIPC's own website.

What happens if annual returns are not filed

  • Late fees. A company that files more than 30 business days after its anniversary pays the higher fee; a close corporation pays R150 for each late lodgement.
  • Deregistration. When two or more successive annual returns are outstanding, the CIPC starts deregistration automatically and notifies the entity by email, at the contact details it holds.
  • Lost business. Banks, SARS, government departments and the Central Supplier Database may refuse to deal with an entity in deregistration; our CSD registration guide explains why suppliers to government need a clean CIPC record.
  • Personal exposure. Directors and members active at the time of deregistration may be held liable for the entity's debts.
  • The way back. Filing every outstanding return before final deregistration cancels the process. After final deregistration, the entity must apply for reinstatement on form CoR40.5 (R200) and then file its outstanding annual returns, BO declaration and AFS or FAS.

If e-Services shows a message that the entity is not allowed to file annual returns and should contact the CIPC, its current status on the register does not allow a filing. Check the status, then log an enquiry on the CIPC website with the registration number.

Running CIPC annual returns across a client portfolio

For a practice, the hard part is the calendar. Companies fall due on their anniversaries and close corporations by month, so the work arrives unevenly, and a missed date costs the client a penalty and, in time, its registration.

AtlasOS for accounting and tax practices treats CIPC annual returns as part of the compliance calendar, next to SARS income tax, VAT, PAYE and provisional tax:

  • Client and entity management holds companies, trusts and individuals with their CIPC and SARS data, maps how entities relate to one another and shows compliance status across the whole portfolio.
  • Compliance and workflow schedules each return, sends deadline alerts, assigns the task to a named staff member and tracks its status to completion.
  • AI-assisted advisory lets staff ask which returns are overdue or which clients carry compliance risk, and supports their decisions without replacing their judgement.
  • Billing and practice finance supports time-based, retainer and fixed-fee billing, so filing work is billed on whichever model the practice uses.

The filing itself still happens on the CIPC's own platforms, by the person the client has authorised. AtlasOS makes the due returns, their owners and their status visible in time to act.

Annual return work handles personal information, such as directors' identity numbers and beneficial owners, so POPIA applies on both sides: the CIPC masks all but the first six digits of a director's or member's identity number on the annual return and leaves it off the filing certificate (CIPC, Annual Returns FAQ, version 5.0), and your practice must protect the same data in its own systems. AtlasOS isolates each firm's data at database level, controls sign-in through Firebase Authentication and keeps its records in PostgreSQL on Google Cloud SQL. Where a practice's own systems must exchange data with government platforms, our team builds SARS and CIPC integrations, and IT for accounting and professional services firms covers the rest of the practice's technology.

Atlas OS gives us visibility across 89 entities that we simply did not have before. The compliance tracking alone has saved us significant time every month.

Evolv AccountantsAtlasOS client, South Africa

See how Evolv Accountants runs on AtlasOS. AtlasOS also serves payroll bureaux and nonprofits and NGOs, whose non-profit companies file annual returns too, with legal practices in scoping.

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Frequently asked questions

What are CIPC annual returns, and how do I do them? Show answer

CIPC annual returns are the yearly statutory filing that keeps a company or close corporation on the CIPC register. To do them, log in to e-Services with a customer code, validate the entity, calculate the fee from turnover, bring the beneficial ownership declaration up to date, submit AFS or FAS, then pay, usually by card. The filing certificate arrives by email.

How much are CIPC annual returns fees? Show answer

For a company filing on time, CIPC annual returns fees run from R100 for turnover under R1 million to R3,000 for turnover of R25 million or more; filing late raises them to between R150 and R4,000. A close corporation pays R100 below R50 million turnover and R4,000 above, plus R150 for each late lodgement (CIPC Annual Returns FAQ, version 5.0).

When are CIPC annual returns due? Show answer

A company's annual return falls due on the anniversary of its registration date and must be filed within 30 business days to avoid the late fee. A close corporation files from the first day of its anniversary month until the end of the following month.

How do I log in to CIPC to file annual returns? Show answer

Go to www.cipc.co.za and open e-Services under Online Transacting, or open annualreturns.cipc.co.za directly and choose Customer Login. Enter your customer code, your case-sensitive password and the security code, then accept the terms and conditions. If you have no customer code, register one first; if you have forgotten the password, use Forgot Password.

How do I pay CIPC annual returns online? Show answer

Pay at the end of the filing with a debit or credit card, approving the payment with the one-time PIN from your bank. If the customer code already holds enough money, e-Services also offers Customer Balance. If you deposit money into the CIPC's bank account, put the customer code in the beneficiary reference field, or the CIPC cannot allocate it.

What is BO filing, and must it come before the annual return? Show answer

BO filing is the declaration of a company's or close corporation's beneficial owners, the people who ultimately own or control it. Since 1 July 2024 the CIPC will not complete an annual return until the latest beneficial ownership declaration is filed in the same calendar year. File it through the stand-alone service on e-Services, or when the annual return prompts you.

What does "entity not allowed to file annual returns, contact CIPC" mean? Show answer

It means the entity's current status on the CIPC register does not allow an annual return to be filed. Check the status first: a finally deregistered entity, for example, must be reinstated on form CoR40.5 before its outstanding returns can be filed. Then log an enquiry on the CIPC website, giving the registration number.

See every client's CIPC date in one place

Book an AtlasOS demo to see your practice's annual returns, BO filings and SARS deadlines on one compliance calendar, or visit the AtlasOS site  (opens atlaspractice.app).

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