What to do, where to go, what it costs
Every guide answers the questions that actually matter: the exact steps, the right office or website, what to bring, what it costs and the deadline that bites. No jargon, no scare tactics, and a fixed price fix wherever you want one.
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Step by step walkthroughs
The government processes people search for every day, laid out click by click. All free official processes; these guides exist so nobody charges you for a form.
How to claim UIF
The new UIF Online portal, the UI-19, the 12 month deadline and how payments run.
Read the guide → Plain English guideHow to apply for a SASSA grant
Older persons grant and SRD R370: where to apply, documents and payment dates.
Read the guide → Plain English guideInjured at work: claim from the Compensation Fund
The W.Cl.2 report, the 7 day duty, the 12 month bar and what the Fund pays.
Read the guide → Plain English guideHow to get a tax number
eFiling auto registration, the SMS and WhatsApp channels, and finding a lost number.
Read the guide → Plain English guideHow to open a business bank account
Every document banks ask a new Pty Ltd for, and the traps that stall applications.
Read the guide → Plain English guideHow to register a company
CIPC process, costs, and what comes after the certificate.
Read the guide →The obligations behind the paperwork
What each rule actually requires, what it costs to comply, and what happens if you leave it.
CIPC annual returns
Deadlines, fees by turnover, what happens if you skip it, and fixing missed years.
Read the guide → Plain English guideBeneficial ownership
Who must file, what counts as an owner, the documents, and the 10-day change rule.
Read the guide → Plain English guideDeregistration rescue
What each CIPC status means, what is at risk, and the exact way back.
Read the guide → Plain English guideGetting a SARS tax clearance PIN
What blocks it and how to fix each blocker.
Read the guide → Plain English guideGetting a police clearance certificate
The R190 fee, the fingerprint form, the real waiting time and applying from abroad.
Read the guide → Plain English guideRegistering and licensing a spaza shop
The Businesses Act licence, the Certificate of Acceptability, real municipal fees and what gets shops closed.
Read the guide → Plain English guideRegistering a trust
The Master's forms, the R250 fee, letters of authority and the beneficial ownership register.
Read the guide → Plain English guideIRP5 and ITR12 explained
Your tax certificate, the codes on it, what to do if you never got one, and the 2026 return deadlines.
Read the guide → Plain English guideAntenuptial contracts
In or out of community, accrual or not, the notary, the three-month deadline and what it costs.
Read the guide → Plain English guidePublic transport operating licence
Who needs one, Form 1B and its attachments, the R600 fee, validity and the 2025 e-hailing rules.
Read the guide → Plain English guideProfessional driving permit
The G, P and D categories, the ages, the medical and criminal checks, and the 24-month validity.
Read the guide → Plain English guideCross-border permits and fees
Who needs a C-BRTA permit, and the full fee table for freight, taxis, buses and tourists.
Read the guide → Plain English guideRegistering an ECD centre or crèche
Bronze, Silver and Gold on eCares, the documents, the clearances and the R24 a day subsidy.
Read the guide → Plain English guideExport documents, with examples
Bill of lading, SADC and EUR.1 certificates of origin, certificates of conformity for Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Botswana, and a certificate of analysis.
Read the guide → Plain English guideSafety data sheets and dangerous goods
A complete 16-section safety data sheet and a filled-in IATA shipper’s declaration, with the 2021 regulations behind them.
Read the guide → Plain English guideForklift licence
No government card exists. Accredited training, the F codes, 24-month validity, the medical and eye test, and the employer’s duties.
Read the guide → Plain English guideFidelity Fund Certificate for estate agents
Candidate, full status and principal, the new firm’s document list, the 2026 fees, the trust account and audit, and the no-certificate-no-commission rule.
Read the guide → Plain English guideElectrical certificate of compliance
Who must hold it, the two-year rule on transfer, the three registered person categories, and how a contractor registers every year.
Read the guide → Plain English guideSolar SSEG registration
Every grid-tied system must register. Eskom, municipal and NERSA thresholds, the three documents, and how Eskom extended its fee waiver on 30 September 2026.
Read the guide → Plain English guideTourist guide registration
The CATHSSETA qualification, first aid, the R240 fee for three years, the categories and classes, and the R100 000 fine for employing an unregistered guide.
Read the guide → Plain English guideStar grading for guest houses and lodges
How the 1 000-point assessment works, the fees, the 80 to 90 percent discount and the offence of borrowed stars.
Read the guide → Season pageTax season 2026, in one place
The SARS dates, who must file, the documents to gather, the monthly late penalty, and the free calculators for your refund and deductions.
Open the page → Plain English guideHow to report a deceased estate
The 14-day duty, which Master’s office, the forms by number, the R250 000 rule, the adverts, the six-month account, and what the Master, the executor and estate duty cost.
Read the guide → Plain English guideClosing a company: deregistration, liquidation or rescue
Which of the four routes fits, what CIPC charges for each, the forms by number, the business rescue clocks, and where directors become personally liable.
Read the guide → Plain English guideWhen you cannot pay SARS
Payment arrangements, the compromise and the six things that block it, getting penalties remitted, and what SARS does to your bank account if you do nothing.
Read the guide → Plain English guideSmall Claims Court: up to R30 000, no lawyer
The limit rose to R30 000 on 1 August 2026. Who may sue, the 14-day demand, getting the summons from the clerk, the evening hearing, and how to enforce the judgment.
Read the guide → Plain English guideThe Rental Housing Tribunal
Free landlord and tenant disputes, the deposit deadlines of 7, 14 and 21 days, the status quo protection, and why the Tribunal cannot evict.
Read the guide → Plain English guideTraffic register numbers for a business
Why a company, trust or partnership cannot register a vehicle without one, the ANR form, the letter of proxy, and what the proxy is personally on the hook for.
Read the guide → Plain English guidePBO approval and section 18A receipts
An NPO number is not tax exemption. The EI1, the three unconnected fiduciaries, the Ninth Schedule, and what a valid donation receipt must contain since 2023.
Read the guide → Plain English guideRates clearance certificates
Why no transfer registers without one, the two-year rule, what the figures cover, why you pay months in advance, and how to get the overpayment back.
Read the guide → Plain English guideBuilding plan approval
What you can build without plans, the 30 and 60-day council deadlines, who may sign since the 2021 rules, and what happens if you build anyway.
Read the guide → Plain English guideGarnishee orders: the employer’s duties
The 25 percent cap on basic salary, why a court must now authorise every order, the 5 percent commission you may keep, and when you become liable to your own employee.
Read the guide → Plain English guideuFiling and monthly UIF declarations
The UI-19 due by the 7th, the R17 712 ceiling, who pays through SARS instead, and the termination code that decides whether your ex-employee can claim.
Read the guide → Plain English guideWork visas and the points system
The 100-point pass mark since October 2024, critical skills versus general work, and the escalating criminal penalties for employing an illegal foreigner.
Read the guide → Season pageReturn of earnings season
The filing window, the CF-2A form, the R668 000 ceiling, the minimum assessment, the 10 percent late penalty and the letter of good standing that follows.
Open the page → Plain English guideVAT registration, explained
The R2.3 million rule, voluntary registration, and what changes.
Read the guide → Plain English guideUIF for employers
Registration, monthly declarations and who counts as an employee.
Read the guide → Plain English guideHow to register on the CSD
The free step-by-step, and the bank and tax checks that trip people up.
Read the guide → Plain English guideThe NHBRC technical assessment
The written test your technical manager sits: two attempts, thirty days, and what it covers.
Read the guide → Plain English guideNHBRC test questions
Nobody publishes them, and the study packs on sale are built on a manual repealed in 2015.
Read the guide → Plain English guideSecurity guard wages 2026/27
Grade A to E, urban and rural, monthly and hourly, and everything you pay on top of the wage.
Read the guide → Plain English guideIs that training academy real?
How to check a security academy is PSiRA accredited before you pay, and what to do if you already did.
Read the guide → Plain English guideWhat PSiRA actually costs
Every 2026/27 fee, what a refund really costs, and why the R8 000 people quote is wrong.
Read the guide → Plain English guideRegistering a security business
The ten PSiRA documents, the inspection and the traps that cause rejections.
Read the guide → Plain English guideRegistering security officers
Who may lawfully be a guard, and what grades E to A actually cover.
Read the guide → Plain English guideFirearm licences and limits
How many firearms you may own, section by section, and for how long.
Read the guide → Plain English guideFirearms for a security business
Section 20 licences, the five year clock and the register you must keep.
Read the guide → Plain English guideSecurity uniforms, PPE and equipment
What PSiRA refuses, what needs a licence, and who pays for the kit.
Read the guide → Plain English guideThe security employer stack
Sectoral wages, the provident fund, COIDA and UIF for a guarding business.
Read the guide → Forms libraryEvery official form, linked to the source
PSiRA, CIPC, UIF, Compensation Fund, SAPS, CSOS and more, with what each form is for.
Open the library → Plain English guideHow to get a letter of good standing
The four conditions, the steps on ROE Online, what it costs, how long it lasts and what blocks it.
Read the guide → Plain English guideCOIDA and letters of good standing
Who must register and why tenders demand the letter.
Read the guide → Plain English guideWorking with asbestos
When you must register, the seven-day notice, and what is banned outright.
Read the guide → Plain English guidePOPIA compliance checklist
What the Act actually requires a small business to do.
Read the guide → Plain English guideEmployment contracts and the BCEA
The minimums, the myths, and clauses that do not hold up.
Read the guide → Plain English guideDismissing an employee fairly
Warnings, hearings and the paper trail the CCMA expects.
Read the guide → Plain English guideThe letter of demand
When to send one and what happens after.
Read the guide → Plain English guideWhy SARS owes you a refund
How over-withholding happens and how to claim it back.
Read the guide → Plain English guideTaking a matter to the CCMA
Referrals, deadlines and what to expect at conciliation.
Read the guide → Plain English guideHiring a foreign worker
Work visas, the checks employers must do, and the penalties for skipping them.
Read the guide →Season guides and what is changing
The deadlines currently running and the rule changes worth knowing about.
Tax filing season 2026
Closes 23 October for individuals. What to check on your auto assessment before accepting it.
Read the guide → Plain English guideProvisional tax deadlines
Due 31 August and end February. Who counts as provisional and what lateness costs.
Read the guide → Plain English guideEmployer recon (EMP501)
The 1 April to 31 May reconciliation, and why your staff cannot file without it.
Read the guide → Plain English guideCOIDA earnings season
The yearly return of earnings that keeps your letter of good standing alive.
Read the guide → Plain English guideThe compliance radar
The rule changes that actually touch small businesses, updated as they land.
See what changed →Guides built around who you are
Spaza shop or salon, freelancer or trustee: the duties that apply to you, in one place. See all eleven situations.