Entries by Financial Emigration

What is CRS and why should I care?

What is CRS and why should I care? Jurisdictions that have agreed to and signed the recently implemented “Common Reporting Standard” (CRS) are obligated to obtain pertinent financial information from their financial institutions and automatically exchange this with other jurisdictions on an annual basis. Put simply, if you are living in a jurisdiction that has […]

SARS Update – “Ordinarily Resident” – South Africans abroad, do you pass the test?

The term “ordinarily resident” is not defined in South African legislation but has been interpreted by South African courts for almost a century when dealing with tax law matters. The South African Revenue Service (“SARS”), in 2002, released an Interpretation Note (“IN3”) that assisted taxpayers in understanding the term, and which considered case law as […]

South Africans Abroad: Tax Requirements

The new expatriate tax law comes into effect 1 March 2020. However, many South Africans abroad believe that the law has not been legally amended and will thus not affect them. This belief is unfortunately incorrect, as the law change has been fully enacted. We have provided a concise breakdown of the tax law above […]

South African Expats – Hiding from SARS could lead to a criminal record without you even knowing

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has stepped up their mission to reduce a massive tax deficit, by initiating a campaign with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to prosecute non-compliant taxpayers who have failed to submit returns. This was announced in the media release dated 16 April 2018, indicating various court cases covering multiple parts […]