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Beneficial Ownership filing explained
Why Beneficial Ownership is now central to CIPC compliance — and how it affects your Annual Return.
Beneficial Ownership (BO) filing records the natural persons who ultimately own or control a company. It is part of South Africa's measures to improve transparency, and CIPC has made it a standard part of company compliance.
The key rule
From 1 July 2024, CIPC enforces Beneficial Ownership filing together with Annual Returns. Companies and close corporations cannot file their Annual Return unless their Beneficial Ownership record has been submitted or is up to date. In practice this means BO is now a prerequisite for staying compliant.
What you need
- The ID details of each beneficial owner
- Each owner's ownership or control percentage
- Supporting documents where ownership runs through other entities
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Beneficial Ownership Filing
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