Business owners warned – you may no longer be able to trade if you don’t comply with CIPC requirements.
South Africa’s business owners face serious consequences for not complying with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) requirements. Over 650,000 companies were deregistered last year mostly due to missed annual returns, according to the CIPC’s annual report.
Deregistered companies could find themselves unable to trade and invoice their clients. In a worst-case scenario, the state can legally absorb assets of non-compliant businesses, according to a local startup InfoDocs, which has developed simple, cost-effective systems to avoid deregistration and ensure CIPC compliance.
Joshua Alexandre, InfoDocs founder and CEO, says, “Imagine your business being unable to operate or own assets; your business bank account is at risk of suspension with deregistration. It’s a nightmare, but one that can be avoided. We started InfoDocs seven years ago to solve the complexity and have helped over 90,000 companies get CIPC compliant.”
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) recently announced in a media statement that companies must register their beneficial ownership information with the CIPC by 30 November 2024. This action is part of South Africa’s commitment to address its greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force and tighten governance on beneficial ownership. Failure to comply could result in sanctions and restrict businesses’ ability to operate. InfoDocs makes it easy for companies to seamlessly meet both the beneficial ownership and annual return requirements.
The CIPC issues new directives often, which are missed by many business owners who do not proactively check the website for changes.
Filing your annual return through InfoDocs is simple and can be completed in a few minutes with all of the required supporting documents. You can file both your beneficial ownership and annual return in ten minutes from R349.
Tips for Submitting Your Returns and CIPC Requirements
Alexandre says that while the complexity can vary greatly from business to business, CIPC compliance is based on providing relatively straightforward information. He provides some tips:
- Annual CIPC returns cannot be filed if your beneficial ownership has not been submitted in the same calendar year.
- You need to capture your share register to file beneficial ownership – every registered company must keep a share register, something InfoDocs offers at no charge. It’s not necessarily the same as beneficial ownership.
- You’ll need some supporting information to file beneficial ownership: names, ID numbers, addresses, and copies of IDs for all shareholders with more than 5% equity.
- You can file directly with CIPC and save yourself about R100, but it can be a minefield for those not experienced in dealing with the CIPC.
- If you use an accountant or professional, ask them to confirm all due dates as they differ for each business. Also, confirm that your contact details with CIPC are up to date. Several InfoDocs clients realised that their returns were overdue when they signed up with InfoDocs, as they thought this important function was being managed by their accountant or bookkeeper.
“Demand for our services has grown exponentially. In our first year, we had 43 clients and after seven years we are on track to meet our goal of helping 100,000 clients in 2024. Just one in five companies are aware of the beneficial ownership requirements. Take control of this critical aspect for your business, or talk to your accountant about your CIPC requirements and returns to ensure you’re up to date,” he advises.
