Your company is deregistered. SARS still expects tax returns
Your company was deregistered by CIPC (the companies registrar). Maybe you asked for it. Maybe it happened quietly, after two missed annual returns. Either way, you thought it was over.
Then a penalty notice arrives from SARS (the tax authority) — for a company that no longer exists.
It's not a mistake. CIPC and SARS keep separate registers. Closing your company at one does nothing at the other. Until the company's tax profile is closed with SARS too, SARS expects tax returns every year. When they don't arrive, it adds a penalty every month.
Here's why it happens, what it costs, and how to shut it down properly.
CIPC doesn't close your SARS profile
When you register a company, CIPC tells SARS automatically — every new company gets an income tax number without asking for one. Closing works the other way. Nobody tells SARS to stop. The official process has two steps. Deregister with CIPC first. Then take CIPC's confirmation to SARS and ask it to close the tax profile.
This catches thousands of business owners, because most companies don't get deregistered on purpose. Miss two annual returns in a row and CIPC starts deregistering your company automatically. CIPC has been deregistering non-compliant companies in bulk since late 2024, with notices going to whatever email address is on record — often an old one. Many owners only find out when the SARS penalties start.
However it happened, the result is the same. The company is gone from CIPC's register, but on SARS's system it is still an active taxpayer, with returns falling due.
What SARS still expects every year
Until the tax profile is closed, SARS expects the same returns as from any trading company:
- An income tax return (ITR14) every year the company sits on SARS's register. A company that didn't trade still files — as a dormant return, the same form with zeros in it. And once SARS demands a return in writing, it is legally due.
- Two provisional tax returns (IRP6) a year. Almost every company must estimate its tax twice a year — that's provisional tax. SARS expects both returns even when the answer is nil.
- VAT and payroll returns, if the company was registered for them. A VAT or payroll tax (PAYE) number stays active until it is cancelled separately. Until SARS confirms, the nil VAT returns (VAT201) and payroll returns (EMP201) stay due.
The penalties grow every month
For outstanding income tax returns, SARS first sends the company a final demand. If nothing is filed within 21 business days, the monthly admin penalties start. They run from R250 to R16,000 per outstanding return, per month, scaled to the company's last taxable income. A dormant company with no income sits at the bottom of that scale — R250 per return, per month.
That sounds small. It isn't, because it recurs:
- One return, penalties running for a year: R3,000.
- Three returns, penalties running for a year: R9,000.
- Each return's penalty can run for up to 35 months — 47 if SARS can't reach the company at all. That's R8,750 to R11,750 per return, at the minimum rate.
You can check what your company is likely to owe with our free SARS penalty calculator.
Deregistration doesn't clear the slate in other ways either. The company's tax debt doesn't disappear — SARS won't close the profile until the returns are in and the balance is settled. Directors remain responsible for what happened on their watch. If there was negligence, SARS can pursue the company's registered representative (the person SARS recognises as speaking for the company) personally. And since 2021, failing to file returns is a criminal offence even when it wasn't deliberate — negligence is enough.
None of this is a reason to panic. It is a reason to close the profile properly — which is a defined process.
How to close a deregistered company with SARS, step by step
1. Get access to the company's SARS profile
SARS only deals with the company's registered representative — usually a director recorded with SARS in that role. Old dormant companies often don't have one, and without one you can't use eFiling for the company at all. If you're locked out, we can get you appointed as the representative.
2. Check what's outstanding — on both sides
On eFiling (SARS's online filing system), pull the company's statement of account. It shows the outstanding returns and the penalties so far. Then check the company's status on BizPortal (CIPC's online portal), or run both checks in one view with our free company health check. "In deregistration process" and "final deregistration" are different problems. If CIPC hasn't finalised it yet, filing the outstanding annual returns stops the deregistration. From there you can choose a cleaner exit.
3. File every outstanding return — zeros count
This is the step that stops new penalties. File the outstanding ITR14s, marked as dormant for the years the company didn't trade. File them even if the company never traded at all. We prepare and submit dormant company returns for R270 per return.
4. Ask SARS to waive the penalties
Once the returns are in, file a Request for Remission on eFiling. For a company that genuinely never traded, SARS can grant it. It's SARS's decision, not a right. And the order matters: penalties keep running until the returns are in — file first, then ask.
5. Deregister each tax type with SARS
Close income tax by asking SARS directly. Book a branch appointment on SARS's booking system (eBooking), or email SARS. Attach CIPC's final deregistration letter and the company's last 12 months of bank statements. If the company had a VAT number, submit the VAT deregistration form (VAT123e) and a final VAT return. If it had a payroll number, submit the payroll deregistration form (EMP123) — unemployment insurance (UIF) falls away with it.
Then keep filing until SARS confirms the closure in writing. It isn't instant: tax practitioners report 12 to 18 months for the income tax side. The returns you file in the meantime are nil returns, but they keep the penalties off.
Want the company back instead?
Sometimes the deregistration is the problem — the company had assets, or was still trading, and CIPC removed it before anyone noticed. Reinstatement is possible if the company was in business or had economic value when it was deregistered: money moving through its bank account, property, vehicles, shares, even outstanding debts all count. All outstanding CIPC filings must then be brought up to date within 30 business days, or the company slides straight back off the register. We handle reinstatements, and if you're weighing it against simply starting fresh, we've compared the two.
Still have the company, and want a clean exit?
If your company still exists and you're done with it, don't wait for CIPC to deregister it for you. The automatic route leaves the SARS profile open and the penalties running. A voluntary deregistration closes things in the right order: returns brought up to date, SARS satisfied, then the CIPC application. We handle the deregistration itself for R860 — bringing outstanding returns up to date first is quoted separately, with dormant tax returns at R270 each. Not sure whether to keep the company? Here's how to decide.
Frequently asked, quickly answered
Does CIPC deregistration automatically close my SARS tax number?
No. CIPC removal and SARS deregistration are two separate processes. SARS closes the tax profile when the registered representative asks, with CIPC's confirmation attached. And only once all returns are filed and any debt is settled.
My company never traded. Will SARS really penalise it?
Yes. Once SARS demands a return, it is legally due — and the penalties are about compliance, not income. A company with no income gets the minimum penalty, R250 per outstanding return per month, but it recurs monthly and multiplies across years.
Does deregistering wipe out the company's tax debt?
No. The debt survives, and SARS won't close the profile until it's settled. A company that can't settle in full can ask SARS for a payment arrangement — or, in limited cases, a compromise of the debt. That, too, runs through the registered representative.
What happens if I just ignore the notices?
The problem grows without ever closing. Each outstanding return's penalty can run for up to 35 months, a new return falls due every year, and the debt sits against the profile. Where there was negligence, SARS can pursue the registered representative personally. A stack of nil returns is far cheaper than any of that.
Can I close the SARS profile before CIPC finishes?
For income tax, no — SARS wants CIPC's final deregistration confirmation first. The practical order is: file everything, finish at CIPC, then close the SARS profile.
How long does the whole thing take?
Plan in months, not weeks. A voluntary CIPC deregistration takes up to six months, and practitioners report SARS taking 12 to 18 months to close the income tax profile. Returns stay due until SARS confirms the closure. Done properly, those are nil returns with no penalties attached.
What if I can't get into the company's eFiling?
That usually means the company has no active registered representative. SARS blocks eFiling access, tax clearance and most changes until one is appointed — we can sort that out.
A deregistered company doesn't tidy itself up. If penalty notices are arriving for a company you thought was gone, start with the returns: we file dormant years for R270 each, and that alone stops new penalties. And if the company is still on CIPC's register, we can close it properly — the right way round, so SARS is settled before the company disappears.