Authors: Jonty Leon, Attorney and Financial Emigration Legal Manager and Claudia Aires
Financial Emigration Manager at Financial Emigration When it comes to choosing financial emigration (FE) or a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA), expatriates must understand that there can never be a one size fits all approach. FE requires certain criteria to be met before one can undergo the process, while a DTA will only be suitable for certain individuals. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation circulating in the South African expatriate community, perpetuated by service providers using scare tactics and promoting that which will benefit them over what is best for expats at large. Therefore, it is cardinal that South Africans abroad, whatever their decision, should thoroughly get to know the tax law that currently affects them and will affect them more so once the tax law amendment becomes effective on 1 March 2020. Advantages of Financial Emigration
Disadvantages of Financial Emigration
Advantages Double Taxation Agreement
Disadvantages Double Taxation Agreement
What Is Best? Each client is different, and their specific circumstances must be considered when choosing the best legal avenue to go down. Everyone will firstly need to see if they fit the requirements of the options available, and if they do, they will need to weigh up the pros and cons of each. Either way, you can be protected, the new expatriate tax law does not have to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. ENDS MEDIA CONTACT: Idéle Prinsloo, 082 573 9219, idele@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za For more information on Tax Consulting please visit http://www.financialemigration.co.za
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Author: Jonty Leon, Attorney and Financial Emigration Legal Manager
South African expatriates need not only understand the new expatriate tax law, but also act on it or face dire tax consequences. The amendment to the South African Income Tax Act No. 58 of 1962 has been fully enacted and forms part of the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill of 2017. Despite this, many South African expatriates are under the incorrect impression that the law has not been legally amended and will thus not affect them. The new law states that, “There shall be exempt from normal tax— any form of remuneration— to the extent to which that remuneration does not exceed one million Rand in respect of a year of assessment and is received by or accrues to any employee during any year of assessment by way of any salary, leave pay, wage, overtime pay, bonus, gratuity, commission, fee, emolument or allowance, including any amount referred to in paragraph (i) of the definition of gross income in section 1 or an amount referred to in section 8, 8B or 8C, in respect of services rendered outside the Republic by that employee for or on behalf of any employer, if that employee was outside the Republic.” The new law, however, will only come into effect on March 1st 2020, to afford South African Expatriates the opportunity to lobby Parliament and to allow them and their employers to get their ducks in a row. Is R1m enough? The amendment will require that South African tax residents abroad will be required to pay South African tax of up to 45% of their foreign employment income, where it exceeds the R1m threshold. Whilst this may seem enough, the problem is that employment income also includes allowances and fringe benefits paid to expatriates, which cannot economically be considered as “earnings”. The reality is that house, security, flights, etc. are mostly part of expatriate packages to allow the expatriate to work in the foreign location. These eat up the R1m threshold quickly, especially considering the harsh and expensive environments into which expatriates must often operate. The options There are effectively three schools of thought for expatriates, excluding those who are adopting an “ostrich, head in sand” approach:
Act now – protect yourself The most compliant way to fully ensure that foreign income earned as a South African expatriate is protected from South African tax is to formalise one’s emigration through SARS and the South African Reserve Bank. This process is commonly known as Financial Emigration, and once undertaken by an expatriate, it cleanly cuts ties with South Africa from a tax perspective regarding foreign income. One of the important items noted in last year’s Parliamentary process, was the caveat against last minute changes. It was noted that someone who has been an expatriate for a long period and that emigrates just before the March 1st 2020 effective date, must expect that their actions will be viewed with the necessary suspicion. The prudent and fiscally conservative position remains to always have your tax affairs with SARS fully up to date and legally compliant – this includes having the correct tax status noted on the SARS system. Tax strategy includes that the SARS auditor must see a history and consistency in compliance, thus meaning the taxpayer is determined as a low or no-risk taxpayer. ENDS MEDIA CONTACT: Idéle Prinsloo, 082 573 9219, idele@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za ABOUT Tax Consulting SA: Tax Consulting SA offers a streamlined service in the calculation and filing of individual income tax returns, provisional income tax returns or any other more complex individual tax relate matters. Our highly qualified team of Tax practitioners are registered with SARS under controlling body of the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners (SAIT). As tax specialists, we remove the burden from clients to keep their tax affairs in good order, achieving optimal tax savings while ensuring full compliance. For more information on Tax Consulting please visit: Website: http://www.taxconsulting.co.za/ LinkedIn: Tax Consulting South Africa Facebook: Tax Consulting South Africa Author: Jonty Leon, Financial Emigration Legal Specialist at Financial Emigration, a division of Tax Consulting SA
Emigrating from South Africa is not as simple as packing up your bags, jumping on a plane and setting up shop somewhere else. Unfortunately, there is still the issue of tax and no matter where you go, the taxman remains interested. The South African Reserve Bank, SARS and even the globally agreed Common Reporting Standards (CRS) want to know your movements. Home Affairs have also climbed on this bandwagon in respect of the White Paper released last year which recommends that all South Africans abroad must report themselves correctly, for good recordkeeping and for the authorities to know their whereabouts. The only way to formally place yourself on record for all these items is to undertake the financial emigration process. This means that you will be noted with SARS (which covers your personal tax status and CRS) and the SARB (which covers your bank account status) that you are no longer “ordinarily resident” in South Africa for fiscal purposes. By doing this, your status means that the South African authorities no longer have a reporting claim on your world-wide income and capital gains. No escaping SARS A worrying factor is that the many South Africans abroad seem to think they escape SARS, for the mere reason that they are living somewhere else. Whilst the circumstances and reasons for justification vary, from an attorney’s perspective, the following factors are very worrying:
Guilty until proven innocent When it comes to tax compliance, you are guilty until you prove your innocence. To get around world-wide taxes as an expatriate, the classic defence is that you are not “ordinarily resident” in South Africa. This onus is discharged by undertaking the financial emigration process, which is a SARS and SARB process, whereby you are noted on record as having emigrated. From a tax legal defence strategy, two items are important:
Final Solution Financial emigration provides a final risk management solution for expatriates to not have to declare their world-wide income and capital gains. This also provides a solution to CRS and Exchange Control restrictions. For those who need convincing to do the correct thing, we suggest they equate this to insurance. ENDS MEDIA CONTACT: Idéle Prinsloo, 082 573 9219, idele@thatpoint.co.za, www.atthatpoint.co.za ABOUT Tax Consulting SA: Tax Consulting SA offers a streamlined service in the calculation and filing of individual income tax returns, provisional income tax returns or any other more complex individual tax relate matters. Our highly qualified team of Tax practitioners are registered with SARS under controlling body of the South African Institute of Tax Practitioners (SAIT). As tax specialists, we remove the burden from clients to keep their tax affairs in good order, achieving optimal tax savings while ensuring full compliance. For more information on Tax Consulting please visit: Website: http://www.taxconsulting.co.za/ LinkedIn: Tax Consulting South Africa Facebook: Tax Consulting South Africa |
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