South Africans emigrating to greener pastures may be prevented from leaving the country – or worse – if their application for tax clearance is denied by SARS. Recent changes to expatriate tax procedures and SARS’ dramatically improved auditing capabilities mean the exit process is more stringent than ever. So, taxpayers must ensure they are fully…
The process of financial emigration, which is the process that allows a taxpayer to formally place themselves on record as a non-resident for tax purposes with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), recently changed and came into effect on 1 March 2021. Jonty Leon, Legal Manager (Expatriate Tax) at Tax Consulting South Africa, says the…
Financial emigration is the process used by many South Africans abroad to formalise their non-resident status for both tax and exchange control purposes, and which is set to be amended, as mentioned a year ago in Budget 2020, and come into effect on 1 March 2021. Since the initial announcement, there has been zero public…
South African expatriates have been kept in suspense regarding a proposed law change aimed at providing relief to those who could not leave the country under lockdown. This amendment was confirmed with the promulgation of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act No. 23 of 2020 (“TLAA”) on 20 January 2021, which means these expatriates can now…
10 KEY CHANGES The President has given effect to the 2020 tax proposals by signing three tax Acts into law. On 15 January 2021, the President gave his assent to the Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Act No. 22 of 2020 (“Rates Act”), the Taxation Laws Amendment Act No. 23 of…
The days where SARS shuts its eyes to taxpayers’ offshore holdings are thing of the past. SARS is finally utilising the Automatic Exchange of Information regime to pin down taxpayers who have not disclosed their offshore interests and numerous taxpayers have already received some alarming notices to this effect. The notice The notice informs the…
South Africans living or working abroad can no longer avoid the long arm of SARS. Under pressure to meet its revenue quotas, the tax authority has started auditing the country’s non-compliant expatriates in earnest. “We have been warning expatriates that this was coming and now that it’s here, the time for hiding one’s head in…
5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 1 March 2021 marks a watershed for retirement funds in South Africa, says Jean du Toit, attorney and head of tax technical at Tax Consulting South Africa. Most are focussed on the annuitisation rules that have been pending since 1 March 2015, otherwise known as ‘T-day’. While these reforms…
As a South Africa working and living abroad, there is nothing more frustrating than incessant delays on applications for new and/or renewals of South African Government-issued documentation (referred to as “Civic services”). The delays are often attributed to a lack of robust digital privacy and security protocols in place, with Government departments moving at a…
On 13 October 2020, National Treasury and SARS published their responses on the Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (“TLAB”), which included potential relief for South African expatriates who were unable to leave South Africa owing to the Covid-19 lockdown. This relief provided for reduced days in terms of the requirements of the foreign employment exemption,…
