CIPC, the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, charges nothing for a Beneficial Ownership declaration. The government fee is R0, for the full declaration and for the simplified one. What can cost money is help getting it filed correctly, and the cost of leaving it undone.
This page sets out both. If you are still working out what the declaration is and whether your company must make one, start with our guide to the Beneficial Ownership declaration.
CIPC’s fee: R0
There is no government filing fee, stamp duty or submission charge for a Beneficial Ownership declaration at CIPC. That applies to the full declaration and to CIPC’s simplified declaration for non-affected companies with no beneficial ownership to declare.
The declaration is not effortless, though. It needs a signed mandate, a correct securities register, the right company category, and every beneficial owner’s details captured exactly. A rejected or incomplete declaration has to be done again, and while it is outstanding your annual return stays blocked.
Option 1 — ClearComply BO Co-Pilot: R399
The ClearComply Beneficial Ownership Co-Pilot is a guided, real-time assistant that walks you through the CIPC portal step by step. You file the declaration yourself — the Co-Pilot tells you what to click, what to enter in each field, what to upload, and flags errors before you submit.
This is not a done-for-you service. You are doing the filing. The Co-Pilot is the expert sitting next to you explaining each step as you go.
What R399 gets you:
- Real-time step-by-step guidance through the CIPC eServices portal
- A document checklist before you start, so you do not get halfway and discover something is missing
- Field-by-field explanations in plain English
- Error flagging before submission
- A confirmation walkthrough after filing
Who this works for: Business owners who want to file their own declaration but are wary of the CIPC portal, have had a previous rejection, or have a slightly complex ownership structure that needs guidance. It also suits anyone filing for the first time who would rather understand the process than hand it to a third party.
Time required: most people complete the filing in 20–35 minutes with the Co-Pilot running.
Option 2 — Done for you: from R800
With a done-for-you service you provide the information and documents, and someone else handles the CIPC portal entirely under a signed mandate. You never log in.
Through ClearComply, a registered practitioner files it for you from R800, with everyone holding 5% or more included: book a Beneficial Ownership filing. ClearComply matches you with the practitioner and tracks the filing — the practitioner does the work.
What done-for-you gets you that the Co-Pilot does not: you never touch the CIPC portal. That is the right choice if you genuinely have no time or no inclination to deal with the system yourself.
What the Co-Pilot gets you that done-for-you does not: you see every step and understand your own declaration, which helps when ownership changes and the declaration has to be updated within 10 business days.
What you are actually paying for
CIPC’s fee is R0 either way. What you are buying is one of three things.
Time. Working out the CIPC portal on your own takes longer than most people expect. If you would rather spend that time on the business, paying for help is a rational trade.
Lower risk of rejection. A CIPC rejection costs more time than the original filing did. If your ownership structure has any complexity, help reduces that risk — the Co-Pilot by flagging errors as you go, a done-for-you service by taking it off your desk entirely.
Not having to remember it next year. Some providers bundle ongoing monitoring. ClearComply tracks your CIPC deadlines — beneficial ownership and annual returns — for R99/month and tells you before each one falls due.
What happens if you do not file at all
Not filing is not the cheap option. CIPC can impose an administrative fine of the greater of R1 million or 10% of annual turnover for non-compliance. More immediately, the eServices portal enforces a hard stop: your annual return cannot be filed while your Beneficial Ownership declaration is outstanding. An unfiled annual return, two years running, starts deregistration.
So the cost of not filing is not R0. It is a blocked annual return, a compounding penalty exposure, and a deregistration that costs considerably more to reverse than the filing would have cost in the first place.
Which option is right for you
Use the Co-Pilot at R399 if you want guidance through the process, you have had a rejection before, your ownership structure has any complexity, or you would rather understand it than outsource it.
Use a done-for-you service if you have no time for the portal at all, or your ownership structure is complex enough that professional handling is the lower-risk route.
You can check whether your Beneficial Ownership declaration is currently outstanding at clearcomply.co.za/check — free, and no signup required.
Government filing fee for Beneficial Ownership at CIPC: R0. Sources: CIPC, “Optimised Beneficial Ownership Declaration” (September 2025); Companies Act 71 of 2008 as amended; General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act 22 of 2022.