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Africa Common Law

Founders pursuing a JSE or AltX listing, South Africa

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
Start setup {placement} 4 min · no card required
Corp tax
27%
Fastest setup
2 weeks
Tax treaties
80
Region
Africa

What you'll need

  • No resident director required
  • Local registered office required
  • Economic-substance test applies
  • Minimum capital: ZAR 1
  • Administrative language: English
  • Legal system: Common law

Tax and treaty profile

  • Corporate tax 27%
  • Tax treaties 80
  • VAT rate 15%
  • Withholding on dividends 20%
Key treaty partners
UKUSAGermanyNetherlandsMauritiusIndia

Banking and payments

  • Banking is straightforward
  • Stripe supported
  • Wise supported
  • Crypto banking available
  • EMI license framework available

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