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Start your company in South Africa

Formation, registered office and bookkeeping — ready to operate from day one.

I'm in 4 min · no card required
Live in 19-21 days
  1. 1
    CIPC Registration Day 1-3
    • Reserve company name on BizPortal
    • File CoR 14.1 with Memorandum of Incorporation
    • Receive registration certificate from CIPC
  2. 2
    Tax and Labour Day 4-9
    • Register income tax automatically with SARS
    • Add VAT, PAYE and UIF where applicable
    • Enrol with Department of Labour
  3. 3
    Banking and Licensing Day 10-14
    • Open business account with FICA documents
    • Apply for FSCA licence if financial services
    • File SARB exchange control if foreign owned
Starts from
ZAR 50,100 first year, all-in
≈ $3,049 ≈ €2,591
What's included
  • Company formation ZAR 22,500
  • Registered office ZAR 9,600 /year
  • Bookkeeping ZAR 1,500 /month
    See pricing tiers by revenue
    • ≤ ZAR1M revenue ZAR 1,500 /month
    • ZAR1M–4M ZAR 2,500 /month
    • ZAR4M–10M ZAR 4,200 /month
    • ZAR10M–20M ZAR 8,400 /month
Still comparing? See alternatives →

Why South Africa?

Founders building a Pan African operating HQ

South Africa's HQ Company Regime exempts qualifying foreign dividends, capital gains and interest for groups managing African subsidiaries. 80 DTAs cover the UK, USA, Germany, Mauritius and India, with English admin and a common law system.

HQ Company Regime80 DTAsCommon law

Fintech founders raising and selling on the continent

Stripe is live in South Africa and the FSCA Crypto Asset Service Provider licence has been operational since 2023, alongside SARB regulated banking. Year-1 costs run ZAR 1,500-5,000 with bank account opening in 21 days.

Stripe liveFSCA CASPSARB regulated

Founders pursuing a JSE or AltX listing

The JSE is Africa's largest exchange and offers AltX for growth companies, with a participation exemption on qualifying outbound dividends. Crypto friendly local banking is available, and a provincial gambling board route exists for regulated gaming.

JSE / AltXParticipation exemptionCrypto banking

Considerations

If tax efficiency or capital mobility is the binding constraint

South Africa runs a 27% CIT, 20% dividends withholding, exchange controls under SARB and remains on the FATF grey list (since 2023). For lower tax and free capital flows:

FATF grey list27% CITSARB exchange controls
→ Mauritius 3% effective via GBC, no exchange controls→ Ireland 12.5% CIT, EU, no FATF flag→ Cyprus 12.5% CIT, IP Box at 2.5%

If you are raising from US VCs or operating EU only

South Africa is not on standard US VC term sheets and a Delaware flip is typically required at Series A. For EU first SaaS, infrastructure and FATF/grey list optics also weigh in:

Not on US VC sheetsFATF optics for EU
→ Delaware (USA) Default for US VC term sheets→ Estonia EU, e-Residency, no FATF flag→ Ireland Accepted by US VCs, EU passporting
Available services

Everything you need to run a company in South Africa

Filing, compliance, accounting, handled by certified local partners

Ready to incorporate

Start your company in South Africa

From formation to compliance, we handle every filing in South Africa.

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