The chart above shows that the number of registered businesses with taxable earnings in South Africa has been gradually declining since 2016. There is a drop of 11% (106,785 net reduction) between 2018 and 2019. N.B. 'Years' refer to SA tax years, not calendar years. Note from Source:The number of returns expected for a particular tax year is determined by the number of companies that have been assessed for that tax year, plus the number of companies with an “active” status that were assessed in respect of either of the two tax years prior to the relevant tax year, but have not yet been assessed for the tax year in question.