Latest South African Emigration News & Tax Insights

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January 23 Deadline Causing Headaches For Provisional Taxpayers

18/01/2023

The recent announcement that the deadline for provisional taxpayers has been brought forward to 23 January 2023 is causing confusion. "Some provisional taxpayers have mistaken this to mean that their second provisional tax submission is due sooner this year, but this is incorrect," says Nicolas Botha, Tax Team Compliance & Processing Manager at Tax Consulting...

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Voluntary Compliance Encouraged By SARS

01/12/2022

In a media statement dated 30 November 2022, the South African Revenue Service (“SARS”) stated that they are encouraging all taxpayers who may be in default on their tax affairs to approach SARS via the Voluntary Disclosure Programme (“VDP”). By coming forward willingly, said taxpayers will receive the help and advice from SARS to expedite...

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SARS’ Sherlock Holmes Approach to Foreign Income

01/12/2022

The number of South Africans earning income abroad has continuously been on the rise. The majority percentage of the South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) tax collections have also consistently been from personal income. These two factors combined, in the context of our residency-based tax system, has massively piqued the interest of our revenue service in...

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Flying Towards A Tax Saving_Double Tax Agreement Or Financial Emigration

14/11/2022

Having visited over 12 international locations in 2022, and engaging with South African expatriates, we can attest to a recent report issued by the United Nations which found that around 900 000 South Africans are already living and working overseas – and indeed, this may well be an understatement. Delano Abdoll Legal Manager: Cross-Border Taxation...

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Performing A Tax Diagnostic Does Not Trigger A Reaction From SARS

08/11/2022

What is a Tax Diagnostic Report? A tax diagnostic can be thought of as a thorough examination of your historic tax matters on your SARS profile that will give a comprehensive overview of your tax standing, history and current state of tax compliance. This is the framework in which a qualified tax advisor analyzes your...

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SARS’ Smoking Gun? Estimated Tax Assessments through Lifestyle Audits

01/11/2022

Lifestyle audits were initiated by SARS back in 2007, however actual action earnestly began only a few years ago with the arrival of SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter. These audits are conducted when SARS suspects that the taxpayer is not declaring all his or her income and thus is underpaying the factual tax due. The risk...

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SARS Ups The Ante On Expatriates Trying To Cease Their Tax Residency

12/10/2022

SARS has started to make good on its promise in the 2020 Budget Review by enhancing their verification and audit processes to accurately review the compliance and tax statuses of South Africans abroad. Nikolas Skafidas Tax Diagnostic Specialist Martin Bezuidenhout Expatriate Tax Attorney The first indication of this was SARS’ issuance of letters confirming taxpayers’...

Alarm Over Growing Brain Drain From SA

19/09/2022

As emigration by skilled South Africans rises, experts in the auditing and insurance sectors have warned this will weaken the country's skills base and reduce the pool of wealthy individuals, whose spending on goods and services support many businesses. Thomas Lobban Legal Manage: Cross-Border Taxation Martin Bezuidenhout Expatriate Tax Attorney As emigration by skilled South...

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SARS Tracking Flights As Part Of Stricter Non-Resident Verification Process

08/09/2022

Expatriate taxpayers awaiting approval of their non-resident status may be surprised to discover that SARS can track their flights into and out of South Africa. Nikolas Skafidas Tax Diagnostic Specialist This is evident from the attached Request for Additional Supporting Documents letter, received by one of Tax Consulting SA's clients. Here, SARS queries the reasons...

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Non-Resident Tax Status Reversed? Read This Before Reapplying To SARS

05/09/2022

SARS introduced its Tax Non-Resident Confirmation letter in 2021, and it now appears that emigrated taxpayers, whose residency status was previously disclosed to SARS as non-resident, are now finding their status has been reset to ‘resident’. This may possibly have been due to a bug, or one arm not speaking to the other, when SARS...

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Momentous Wealth Taxation Event Lifts Veil On Offshore Structures

29/08/2022

A momentous event, held on 22 August 2022, drew a massive audience, comprising many well-known high net worth VIPs, senior SARS officials and officials from other African Revenue Authorities, tax heads in various capacities, top wealth managers, academics and other notable attendees. Hosted by the South African Institute of Taxation (SAIT), in collaboration with Tax...

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Expats Tax Residency Reset: Is SARS Constantly Shifting Goalposts?

25/08/2022

The South African Revenue Service’s (“SARS") focus on South Africans abroad was first revealed in the 2017 Budget Speech. Their reasons were only revealed in the pursuant Parliamentary debate, where in the Q&A session it was shared that National Treasury and SARS had been keeping a close eye on expatriate tax compliance. Nicolas Botha Compliance...

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LATEST NEWS

January 23 Deadline Causing Headaches For Provisional Taxpayers

Voluntary Compliance Encouraged By SARS

SARS’ Sherlock Holmes Approach to Foreign Income

Flying Towards A Tax Saving_Double Tax Agreement Or Financial Emigration

Performing A Tax Diagnostic Does Not Trigger A Reaction From SARS

SARS’ Smoking Gun? Estimated Tax Assessments through Lifestyle Audits

SARS Ups The Ante On Expatriates Trying To Cease Their Tax Residency

Alarm Over Growing Brain Drain From SA

SARS Tracking Flights As Part Of Stricter Non-Resident Verification Process

Non-Resident Tax Status Reversed? Read This Before Reapplying To SARS

Momentous Wealth Taxation Event Lifts Veil On Offshore Structures

Expats Tax Residency Reset: Is SARS Constantly Shifting Goalposts?

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