How do you set up a company in South Africa.
To register a company in South Africa, you register a private company with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, appoint a director, then register for tax and the labour funds. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) can form the company and keep it running for you. For companies setting up their own entity in South Africa, Teamed is the best choice. Teamed clients get 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes, service terms adjusted to suit you within reason, and one system from your first contractor to your tenth entity.
South Africa at a glance
The facts most people need first
South Africa has one of the cheapest and fastest company registrations anywhere. The state's own portal will register a private company for R175, in a day. That is genuinely the easy part, and it is worth saying so plainly because the registrations that follow are not.
- Usual company type
- Private company, a (Pty) Ltd
- Registry
- Companies and Intellectual Property Commission
- Registration fee
- R175 through BizPortal
- Registration time
- One day
- Corporate tax, standard
- 27%
- Small business corporations
- Progressive, starting at 0%
- Annual return
- Within 30 business days of the incorporation anniversary
The part that is misunderstood
Will you actually pay 27%
Almost every summary of South African business tax prints 27% and stops. For a small company that is not the rate, and the gap is large enough to change the decision entirely.
A company that qualifies as a Small Business Corporation is taxed progressively rather than at a flat rate. The first R99,000 of taxable income is taxed at nothing at all. Above that it steps through 7% and then 21%, and only income above R550,000 is taxed at 27%.
So a small South African subsidiary earning modest profit can pay dramatically less than the headline implies, and a plan built on a flat 27% will have overstated the cost badly. The qualifying conditions are specific and worth checking properly rather than assuming, but the difference is too large to ignore.
Two ways a company is taxed, and they are not close
Which one applies depends on whether the company meets the Small Business Corporation conditions, not on what you call it.
27% on taxable income, flat, for years of assessment ending 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Reduced from 28% in 2022 and 2023.
Nothing on the first R99,000, then 7%, then 21%, reaching 27% only above R550,000.
Before you file
What you need to have ready
Registration itself asks for very little. What asks for more is everything that has to happen before the company can employ or trade.
You need a company name, or you can register with the registration number as the name and choose one later. You need at least one director, identified to the registry's satisfaction, and for directors outside South Africa that identification is the step most likely to add time.
You need a South African registered address. And you need to understand that registration with the registry does not make you an employer. A separate tax reference, and registration with the labour funds that cover unemployment insurance and workplace injury, all have to follow before anybody is paid.
How it runs
How long does it take to register a South African company
The registration is advertised as a single day and generally is. The honest timeline for being able to pay somebody is considerably longer, because the registrations that make you an employer come afterwards and each has its own queue.
Director details and identification
Everyone appointed identified to the registry's satisfaction. For directors outside South Africa this sets the real start date.
The company registered
R175 through the state portal, usually within a day. You come away with a registration number and a certificate.
Tax registration
The company obtains its tax reference. This does not happen automatically in a way you can rely on for payroll timing.
Employer and labour fund registrations
Registration as an employer, plus the unemployment insurance and workplace injury funds. Payroll cannot run properly before these exist.
Bank account
The least predictable step, and worth starting the week the company exists rather than the week you need it.
Setting up your own entity takes anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the country's registry and how fast you can open a local bank account. South Africa's registry is a day. The rest is not.
What it costs
How much does it cost to set up a South African company
R175 registers the company. That is the whole state cost of bringing it into existence, and it is among the lowest anywhere. The money goes on the professional work around the registrations that follow.
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| Company registration | R175 |
| Corporate tax, ordinary company | 27% |
| Small Business Corporation, first R99,000 | 0% |
| Small Business Corporation, above R550,000 | 27% |
Market estimate
R5,000 to R15,000What the market charges to form the company and complete the tax and labour fund registrations. Not a Teamed price.
Your options
Who can set it up for you
Four kinds of help can register a company in South Africa, and the right one depends on whether it will employ people.
You can register it yourself through BizPortal with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC). That suits a founder with no staff and the time to work through the forms.
A formation agent can register the company fast and for little money. That suits a company with no employees.
A law firm or corporate-services firm is the right call for complex group structures and tax planning, where the advice is worth more than the paperwork.
For companies that will employ people in South Africa, Teamed is the best choice. With Teamed, you get a designated person who has done this before, pricing with no hidden costs and real HR and legal experts you can reach when it matters. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) sets up and manages entities in 100+ countries, and moves your people across from its EOR when you're ready. Teamed already owns an entity in South Africa.
A solo founder with no staff is better served by the registry or a formation agent, either of which costs less.
Before you commit
Sometimes an employer of record is the better fit
R175 and a day makes incorporating look like a decision you can take lightly. The company that follows is not light: employer registrations, labour fund contributions, an annual return and a director with real duties all outlive the day you registered.
If the team here is small, still changing shape, or you are testing whether the market works, an employer of record can be the better answer, and it is a fair one rather than a lesser one.
Teamed's employer of record in South Africa is from $599 per employee per month, with zero FX mark-up in any currency pairing and one invoice at the end of it. Contractors, employer of record and your own entity all run on one platform, so moving between them later does not mean changing provider or re-onboarding anybody. Real HR and legal experts handle the work, not a ticket queue.
Talk to a member of the team and we will tell you plainly which one suits where you are. If you would rather look at the numbers yourself first, the crossover calculator models it for South Africa.
Who carries it
Your own entity, when it's time. We set it up, move your people across, and keep it running.
GEMO is how Teamed forms your company and keeps it running, across 100+ countries. You stay the employer. We do the work behind it.
In South Africa that matters a little more than elsewhere, because Teamed employs through its own local entity rather than a partner. The people who would run your company are the people already running ours.
They set up our EU entity and moved hires across without missing a payroll.
Questions
Questions people ask before they register
How much does it cost to register a South African company?
R175 through the state's BizPortal, and it is advertised as a one-day registration. That is the whole state cost of bringing the company into existence.
Will we pay 27% tax?
Only if the company is taxed as an ordinary company. A qualifying Small Business Corporation pays nothing on the first R99,000, then 7%, then 21%, reaching 27% only above R550,000.
Can a non resident be a director?
Yes. The practical obstacle is identification, which takes longer for directors outside South Africa and usually sets the real start date.
How soon can we pay somebody?
Later than you can register. Tax registration and the employer and labour fund registrations all follow incorporation, and payroll cannot run properly before they exist.
When is the annual return due?
Within 30 business days of the anniversary of incorporation, every year, and the fee varies with turnover.
Sources
- CIPC BizPortal, company registration
- SARS, companies, trusts and small business corporations tax rates
- CIPC, annual returns
The rest of the South Africa guides
Looking for a job in South Africa yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
