At Louis Meyer Secretarial, we pride ourselves on our knowledge of the CIPC requirements with respect to the annual return filing and related processes. We undertake to ensure that our clients’ returns are timeously submitted and in the correct format.

Annual returns: What Are They?

The annual return is a statutory return required in the case of every company or close corporation and is part of the mechanism used by CIPC to confirm that the entity is in continued operation. If the CIPC does not hold this information for any given entity on record, it is assumed that the entity has ceased to trade, resulting in penalties and the potential deregistration of the entity in question.

Filing is accompanied by an annual fee, determined with reference to the turnover value attained in the immediately preceding financial year.

SHOULD YOU FIND THAT YOUR ENTITY HAS BEEN DEREGISTERED,
we can assist with the reinstatement thereof.

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Annual Financial Statements and iXBRL

In terms of Section 33 of the Act, read together with Regulation 28, 29 and 30 of the Companies Regulations of 2011, these qualifying entities must submit their annual financial statements in iXBRL with their submissions:

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Public companies

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Non-profit companies

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Companies that are audited under the rules of their Memorandum of Incorporation

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Private or personal liability companies, if the AFS are compiled internally and have a public interest score of 100 or more

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Private or personal liability companies, if the AFS are compiled internally and have a public interest score of 350 or more

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A private or personal liability company with primary activities that include the holdings of assets in a fiduciary capacity for persons not related to the company, and the aggregate value of such assets held at any time during the financial year exceeds R5m.

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Frequently asked questions

All companies (including external companies) and close corporations are required by law to file their annual returns with the CIPC on an annual basis, within a prescribed time period. The purpose of the filing is to determine whether a company or close corporation is still in business/trading, or if it will be in business in the near future.

If these returns are not filed within the prescribed time period, the assumption therefore is that the company or close corporation is inactive, and as such CIPC will start the deregistration process to remove the company or close corporation from its active records. The legal effect of this deregistration process is that the juristic personality is withdrawn and the company or close corporation ceases to exist.

The CIPC will assume that the company or close corporation is inactive, and as such CIPC will start the deregistration process to remove the company or close corporation 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 once a year within a specified time period. Companies must file within 30 business days after the anniversary date of its incorporation, while close corporations must file within the anniversary month of its incorporation up until the month thereafter.

A clear distinction must be made between an annual return and a tax return. The prior is a form of “renewal” and affirms to the CIPC that it is in possession of the most up to date information of a company or close corporation and that the entity is still conducting business. A tax return is filed with SARS and focuses on taxable income of a company or close corporation in order to determine the tax liability of the entity to the State.

Compliance with the one does not mean that there is automatic compliance with the other. It is two different processes administered in terms of different legislation by two different government departments. Therefore, even if the tax return has been filed with SARS, the annual return must still be filed with CIPC.

No. It is not an amendment form and therefore, the annual return must be followed by the appropriate statutory form to update the CIPC registers after filing if CIPC is not in possession of the most up to date information. An example of this is if a company’s address changes, a form CoR21.1 must still be completed and submitted to CIPC.

Yes. The Close Companies Act, 2008 (and its predecessor Companies Act, 1973) and Corporations Act, 1984 does not make a distinction between an active and inactive company or close corporation. Therefore, even if the company or close corporation was inactive, it is still legally required to file and pay these returns.

A company or close corporation must use its latest approved financial statements to determine the turnover for purposes of filing.

All companies must prepare annual financial statements (“AFS”). Public and State-owned companies (SOC) must have audited AFS while a Private, Personal liability and Non-Profit company is not required to have its AFS audited unless –

  • in the ordinary course of its business, it holds assets in a fiduciary capacity for persons who are not related to the company, in excess of R5 million in value at any time during the year;
  • it is a non-profit company and was directly or indirectly incorporated by the state, a state-owned company or foreign entity;
  • it is a non-profit company and was incorporated primarily to perform a statutory or regulatory function in terms of any legislation or to carry out a public function; or
  • its public interest score in that financial year, as calculated in accordance with Regulation 26 (2), is 350 or more or is at least 100 if its AFS have been internally compiled.
  • Any other company must have its AFS reviewed independently in accordance with ISRE 2400 unless –
    • it is exempt, in terms of section 30 (2A) to have its AFS audited or reviewed for that year (every person who is a holder or has a beneficial interest in any securities issued is also a director of the company);
    • it is required by its own Memorandum of Incorporation (“MoI”) to have its AFS audited; or
    • it has voluntarily had its AFS audited for that year. A company that is required to have its AFS audited, as indicated above, must file a copy of its latest approved audited AFS while a company that is not required to have its AFS audited as indicated above, may file a copy of its audited or reviewed AFS.

In determining the appropriate fee for the filing, a distinction must be made between a company and close corporation filing, and the date on which the submission is due, since different fee structures are used for companies and close corporations.

Further, in order to determine the year from which the company or close corporation became liable to file, the roll out date for the specific category of entity must be used together with its registration date.

Public and external companies – rolled out August 2003

Private and incorporated companies – rolled out May 2005

Close corporations – rolled out September 2008

Non-profit companies – rolled out May 2011

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How we can ASSIST

OUR TEAM IS HIGHLY EXPERIENCED IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THESE SUBMISSIONS.
We will ensure timeous and accurate submissions of your Annual Returns and play an instrumental role in your company compliance.

GET IN TOUCH
tel

+27 11 831 2319

mail

info@shelfcompanies.co.za

address

494 Ontdekkers Road, Florida Hills, 1709

tel

+27 11 831 2319

mail

info@shelfcompanies.co.za

address

494 Ontdekkers Road