Company Deregistration

Deregistration removes your company from the CIPC register so it legally stops existing. Once it’s final, the company’s annual returns fall away. Its SARS profile is closed separately afterwards — CIPC deregistration doesn’t close it automatically. It’s the clean way to close a business you’re no longer using, rather than leaving it open and collecting penalties.

There are two ways a company comes off the register. Voluntary deregistration is when you apply to CIPC to close the company. Automatic deregistration is what CIPC starts on its own once a company has two or more outstanding annual returns — and in CIPC’s recent bulk sweeps, final deregistration has followed within months. Voluntary is the controlled route; automatic happens by neglect and carries more risk.

You can, and CIPC will eventually deregister it, but it’s the risky route. While those returns sit unfiled, the company is still treated as active, so both CIPC and SARS keep adding penalties and late fees for the missed deadlines. The government can ask for those to be settled later, and directors can stay personally exposed. A voluntary deregistration closes it cleanly instead.

Most complete in about 2 months. Since December 2025 the application is captured online and processed immediately; the wait is CIPC’s objection window. We follow up until the status reads Final Deregistered — allow longer if an objection lands.

Three things: agreement from at least half of the active directors, who each confirm the application with an OTP; up-to-date director contact details at CIPC, because that’s where the OTPs go; and confirmation from SARS that there’s no outstanding tax (a tax clearance certificate / PIN does this). Your SARS returns have to be filed first — if they aren’t current, we can bring them up to date, quoted separately. Each of these, and what to do when one is missing, is covered in the step-by-step guide.

Since December 2025 there’s no letter — the application is captured online. It records the company’s name, registration number and income tax number, and states that the company is dormant, not carrying on business, and has no assets or liabilities left. At least half of the active directors then confirm it by OTP. Declaring this falsely is a criminal offence, so we check everything before anything is lodged.

Yes. CIPC doesn’t charge for the application, and our guide covers every step: filing what’s outstanding, emptying the company, the application itself, and closing the SARS profile afterwards. The service is for owners who’d rather not chase CIPC for months, or who have back-filing to sort out first.

Your SARS returns do — CIPC wants confirmation that the company owes SARS nothing, so outstanding tax returns and debt are cleared first. CIPC annual returns don’t have to be brought up to date: the application asks you to declare whether the company’s statutory obligations are current, and an honest no doesn’t stop it. Arrears stay owed if the application fails or is withdrawn — if you’d rather clear them, we file annual returns too, quoted separately.

Yes. A company sitting in the deregistration process doesn’t stop you from registering a new company. Many people deregister a dormant entity and start fresh at the same time.

Deregistration is for a dormant company with no real assets or debts, which simply comes off the register. Liquidation is a formal process for winding up a company that still has assets or creditors, where those assets are sold and the proceeds distributed. If your company is genuinely dormant and clean, deregistration is the route. If it has debts or assets to settle, that’s liquidation territory.

Often, yes. If the company was active or owned property when it was deregistered, you can apply to CIPC to **reinstate** it. If it was dormant with no assets, it’s usually cheaper and simpler to register a new company instead. See reinstate or start fresh for how to choose.

You file an Application for Re-instatement (Form CoR40.5) with CIPC, with at least R200 in your CIPC account. You’ll need certified ID copies of the applicant and all directors, a mandate to act, and proof the company was active or owned property when it was deregistered (such as bank statements or a property deed). The application goes to re-instatements@cipc.co.za, and once it’s approved you file any outstanding annual returns to finish the process and move the status back to “in business”. Govchain can handle the reinstatement for you.

Reinstate if the old company held something worth keeping: property, contracts, a trading history, or a track record you need. Start fresh if it was dormant with no assets, since a new registration is faster and cheaper than reinstatement plus all the back-filing. We walk through both in reinstate or start fresh.

Govchain charges R860 to handle a voluntary deregistration: preparing the application, submitting it to CIPC, and following up until the status changes. Bringing outstanding annual returns or tax returns up to date, if needed, is quoted separately because it depends on how many are outstanding.